West Ham United ‘Absolutely pathetic’ after what happened v Chelsea
West Ham were pathetic in defence as Chelsea eased to a 3-0 victory at the London Stadium on 21 September, Jacob Steinberg has said.
The Guardian journalist posted on X (21 September) in the wake of Nicholas Jackson scoring the opening goal just three minutes into the contest at the London Stadium, and didn’t hide his thoughts.
The Irons were opened up with ease as Jackson strolled past Konstantinos Mavropanos and Edson Alvarez before slotting past Alphonse Areola, giving Julen Lopetegui a mountain to climb.
Alvarez and Mavropanos were caught out yet again by Jackson to double Chelsea’s lead before half-time, and Cole Palmer’s audacious finish early in the second period sealed the win on the break.
Julen Lopetegui has defensive questions to answer at West Ham
After just five games, Lopetegui’s new-look Irons side have already lost three times – all on home soil –shipping nine goals in the process amid an extremely below-par start to the new season.
Lopetegui’s continued faith in Mavropanos to start alongside new signing Max Kilman in central defence, at the expense of another recent arrival in Jean-Clair Todibo, is yet to pay dividends.
Mavropanos was arguably at fault, and at the very least involved, in all of the poor defensive actions which led to Chelsea’s three goals, and calls for him to be dropped will only intensify.
However, there’s little evidence that the Spaniard is playing an over-exuberant, attacking style of play which has left his side exposed – instead, the likes of Mohammed Kudus have been rather stunted so far.
Todibo finally coming into the starting side will not solve all of the Hammers’ problems straight away, but it could prove to be the start of an earlier-than-expected redemption arc for Lopetegui in East London.
In other West Ham news, a major European club’s sporting director has given his verdict on one transfer to East London this summer.
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