Credit: Sky Sports

Pranav Shahaney

Mon 10 March 2025 21:52, UK

Alan Smith slammed West Ham duo Alphonse Areola and Jean-Clair Todibo after what he saw them do against Newcastle.

The Irons played host to the Magpies at the London Stadium on Monday, 10 March, and they found themselves chasing the game as Bruno Guimaraes opened the scoring for the visitors.

At the full-time whistle, the scoreline was 1-0 to Newcastle and the hosts are now in 16th place with 33 points to their name.

Graham Potter certainly would not be pleased with Alphonse Areola and Jean-Clair Todibo

While the incident did not lead to the concession of a goal, Graham Potter surely will not be pleased with Areola and Todibo.

Given the modern game and the sort of football he wants his players to play, there needs to be co-ordination between centre-backs and the goalkeeper.

However, Areola and Todibo were not on the same wavelength and they made a complete hash of it.

Had the Newcastle attacking players been a tad sharper, they could’ve scored a first-half goal and added to West Ham’s woes.

Speaking on Sky Sports Main Event, 8:28pm, 10 March, Smith said: “That’s a mess from West Ham. Got to liven up here. Poor pass back to Areola and a poor clearance.”

Eddie Howe coaches a perfect result for Newcastle against West Ham

There were things that the Hammers did well at the London Stadium, but one thing they didn’t do was create much in the final third.

As the xG numbers mentioned above reflect, they struggled to move the ball quickly to draw the Newcastle defenders out of position.

Eddie Howe smartly moved to a slower build up once his side took the lead and it was a good coaching display from him.

He did well to nullify the threat Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus could pose in the final third and got three important away points.

This wasn’t the Hammers side that beat Newcastle away from home by a 2-0 scoreline earlier this season.