Paul Merson slams Craig Dawson in first half of West Ham clash v Manchester United
Paul Merson was less than impressed by West Ham centre-back Craig Dawson in the first half of their clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Dawson, 31, lost possession with a wayward pass that found Bruno Fernandes, who played in Mason Greenwood.
Fortunately for Dawson, Kurt Zouma was on hand to deal with Greenwood’s shot.
Merson reacted to the moment, praising Zouma but was clearly not happy with Dawson’s role.
“[Greenwood] tries to come back in on his left and Zouma’s got back. Brilliant play by Zouma but poor play by Dawson,” said Merson on Sky Sports News on Saturday afternoon [22 January, 03:04pm].
Haphazard
Dawson has been relatively solid as a defender since joining West Ham from Watford in the summer of 2020.
However, the former West Brom defender always has a mistake in his locker, especially when he has the ball at his feet.
When he’s dealing with crosses, aerial balls or is out of possession, Dawson is one of the best centre-backs we’ve had in recent years at being able to deal with things defensively.
However, he’s by no means a ball-player.
Dawson has spent a lot of his career as a right-back, especially during his days at West Brom when Tony Pulis played him there.
He can contribute in possession but when you’re out wide, there are fewer risks that you can take as your passes are usually higher up the pitch.
At centre-back, there’s not really any hiding when you lose possession but luckily for Dawson, Zouma was on hand to bail him out and stop Greenwood from scoring.
In other West Ham news, Kaveh Solhekol dropped a major Hammers transfer update on Sky Sports News on Wednesday.
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