West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell has spoken to the club’s official website about his changing role over his years with the Hammers.
Signed from Ipswich back in 2014 for just over £4m, Cresswell has been a tremendous servant to the Irons and has made more than 200 appearances across his six years in east London.
The 30-year-old spoke about how the role of a modern day full-back has altered, saying: “The game’s definitely changed over the last five or ten years, I think full-backs now certainly need the ability to contribute the crosses, the assists, the build-up play, but on the other side, you need to be able to get up and down the pitch.”
Starting out in his early career as a marauding left-back who contributed plenty of goals going forward in his Tranmere Rovers days, Cresswell now occupies a role on the left-hand side of a three-man defence under David Moyes, and the Liverpudlian is enjoying the manager’s tweak.
He said: “I love it, I played it when the gaffer first came in two-and-a-half years ago. We were a bit short on defenders at the time and the gaffer asked if I’d ever played there.”
Moyes’ side are in decent form at the moment despite losing last time out at Liverpool, and Cresswell can see the improvement in those around him, saying: “It’s a position I love and with Arthur, who’s on the left-hand side as a wing-back, I think that suits his game even more. He likes to get the ball and carry it and he’s a very direct player. It’s working well for us at the minute.”
The new role hasn’t stopped Cresswell delivering quality when given the opportunity and he has already provided three Premier League assists this season.
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Having spent years as an energetic full-back capable of getting up and down the left-hand wing, producing high-quality deliveries when in advanced positions, Cresswell’s job within the team has certainly changed of late.
Perhaps moving inside was a necessity with the Irons short on central defensive options, or perhaps Cresswell can’t get up and down like he would earlier in his career.
Whatever it is that has forced the change, it has worked so far and is likely to remain in place, availability permitting.
