The Fulham game - focus on Hérita N'Kongolo Ilunga

When McCartney was sold and all we seemed to have for cover was a Neill out of position many of us were upset.

Some days after the deadline we seemed to at least have someone reminiscent of a left back in the squad. I for one was hoping, but not really believing, that Hérita Ilunga would be the solution.
However, after watching Neill totally bomb as left back it was obvious that Ilunga or the free transfer recruit Alberto López would have to be the one to fill McCartneys position, almost no matter what.

Before the Fulham game Zola had played them both in that position. Ilunga against Newcastle and López against Watford.
Unfortunately I couldn't see the Watford game, but to many López was considered the man of the match.

I still think López will have a very hard time getting into the starting lineup for some time, because Ilunga played an almost immaculate game against Fulham.

OK, his totally disasterous throw in that almost left Zamora free in the box wasn't beautiful and maybe some other small mistakes were also there, but still...
Not only did he look solid defensively, he produced some very accurate and creative passes when possible. In my view he also chose the right moments to deliver the attacking passes, and didn't hesitate to play the simple ball when needed.
He also seem very comfortable on the ball even under pressure.

The way he quickly got over Johnsons headless studs-in-ankle assault was also appealing - do we have a hard man here?

Maybe he was not pushing forward as much as Konchesky or McCartney would have, but did overlap a few times.
I hope that this is enough for Zola because I haven't been so relaxed when watching a West Ham left back in a very long time.

It will be very interesting to see how he will work out against opponents with lots of pace, and if he does well, we should jump at the fist chance of making his move permanent.
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