Dean Ashton slams ‘poor quality’ of Pablo Fornals and Maxwel Cornet in West Ham v Sheffield United live on Sky Sports
Sky Sports pundit Dean Ashton slammed the “poor quality” of Pablo Fornals and Maxwel Cornet during the Premier League fixture between West Ham and Sheffield United on Sunday (21 January).
The duo have struggled for game time under David Moyes this season but were called upon to start at Bramall Lane with Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus unavailable.
Former Hammers striker Ashton, speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Sunday show (2:25pm), was not overly impressed by how the duo started the game.
“You can tell Fornals and Cornet are way off the standard that I think West Ham have set early in the season from their forward players,” he said.
“A couple of opportunities have broken down because of those two players and their poor quality.”
Cornet would later put West Ham ahead in South Yorkshire in a game where West Ham were pegged back late on in a dramatic finale as the sides played out a 2-2 draw.
Not played much
This is a tricky one because Kudus, Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen have been absolutely superb for West Ham this season and have rightly become the trusted attackers David Moyes has utilised at the London Stadium this season.
It has meant that several players have been on the periphery of the first team and utilised mainly in the Carabao Cup and the Europa League.
Fornals and Cornet fit squarely into that category and the duo, along with Said Benrahma, are among the players who have been linked with exits in January, though it is hard to imagine all three will be allowed to move on this month.
So, Ashton is right to be calling out players if they are not performing – albeit Cornet did end up scoring – but there has to be an element of understanding that they just aren’t in a great rhythm because of the outstanding form of others.
In other West Ham news, Roshane Thomas shared why Edson Alvarez wasn’t involved versus the Blades.
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