West Ham: Sky Sports pundit flummoxed after ‘massive blow’ for Edson Alvarez v Freiburg
Dean Ashton was left flummoxed live on Sky Sports after Edson Alvarez picked up a yellow card that rules him out of the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals for West Ham.
Speaking on Sky Sports, the former Hammers striker said it was a “massive blow” that the Mexico international will be unable to play in their next European fixture after he was cautioned in an otherwise flawless evening for David Moyes side who defeated Freiburg 5-0 to win their last-16 tie 5-1 on aggregate.
The 26-year-old was cautioned for a poor tackle on Maximilian Eggestein and Ashton was not happy about the situation when speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports (14 March, 7:19pm).
“I don’t think you think of it when you’re out there as a player and you just see the ball and that’s his game is to go and intercept,” he said.
“Surely at this point someone’s got to let him know. Once you’re in this position in the game, cruising, they’re just sat now deep and looking to see the game out and now he’s going to miss the first leg of the quarter-final.
“It just seems like a real waste to have done that if you’re Edson Alvarez. That could be a potential massive blow for West Ham.”
West Ham to feel the cost of Edson Alvarez absence in the Europa League
Here’s the thing, it is absolutely a night to celebrate for West Ham – they were absolutely brilliant against Freiburg in a match that had a lot of pressure on manager David Moyes after they lost the first leg last week.
That was followed by a comeback draw against Burnley, so to turn up and take care of business, score some excellent goals, and move onto the next round is definitely worthy of a pat on the back all around.
But, if there is one blot on an otherwise perfect copybook, then it is definitely the fact that Alvarez picked up a completely needless booking in the second half to rule himself out of the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.
Ashton is right that as a player he’s probably not thinking too much about that, but someone on the bench probably should have been and he should have been hooked before something like that could happen.
In other West Ham news, Joe Cole shared a new David Moyes sack verdict on TNT Sports.
For more West Ham news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.