Roy Keane rages at West Ham United for ‘sleeping’ in 2-2 draw v Arsenal live on Sky Sports
Roy Keane was furious with West Ham for what he called “really poor” defending in their 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the London Stadium.
The Hammers were 2-0 down inside the opening ten minutes after some “embarrassing” defending, but fought back to draw 2-2 thanks to goals from Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen to earn a vital point.
But Keane wasn’t happy about the state of the West Ham defending for Arsenal’s early goals, claiming that nobody took responsibility at the back while speaking at half-time live on Sky Sports (16 April, 14:55).
“Far too easy here,” he said. “We talk about West Ham having a fast start but this was the opposite. They were just dropping off and giving Arsenal time and space.
“5, 6, 7 minutes into the game, players aren’t getting tight enough, they’re switching play. They’re obviously nervous but you’ve got to do more.
“Ben White does really well, but it’s really poor defending from West Ham.
“It’s all well having the bodies back, but nobody really making the decision or getting tight.
“They’ve [Arsenal] got quality players but you have to go and tackle them and put them under pressure.
“West Ham have got the bodies back but it’s far too easy. No real tackling, we see Arsenal do this so often. Little slide pass, sleeping at the back, Jesus one-touch finish. Far too easy.”
Poor
Those stupid lapses of concentration have been a constant theme of this West Ham side all season, and it’s cost us big time.
Currently the Hammers have moved four points clear of the relegation zone thanks to the point they earned against the Gunners, but they shouldn’t be in this position at all anyway.
The squad is so much better than it has been performing this season, and having the ability to fight from 2-0 down against the league leaders shows that they have been underperforming greatly all season.
It’s sloppy defending and while the players and staff deserve credit for the character they showed to dig in and come back, that doesn’t mean they can get away with their poor defending to begin with.
If we can keep upcoming performances at the same level of this one but cut out that awful ten minutes to start, then we should be playing Premier League football next season.