Richard Keys and Andy Gray slam ‘really poor’ incident in Brentford v West Ham United
Richard Keys and Andy Gray have slammed the standard of defending from West Ham in their 3-2 Premier League defeat at Brentford on Saturday (4 November).
The Hammers led at the break at the Gtech Community Stadium as goals from Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen cancelled out Neal Maupay’s opener.
However, a Konstantinos Mavropanos own goal and a Nathan Collins header ensured Brentford came away with all three points.
While United struggled defensively all game, it was the first goal in particular that Keys and Gray found particularly bad.
“It’s really poor defending from West Ham. Really poor,” Gray said on beIN Sports [4 November, 17:17].
Keys interjected with “let it go” as footage was relayed of Mavropanos heading the ball into a dangerous zone when it was going straight out of play.
Terrible
A lot happened beyond this early Maupay goal, but the standard of defending was truly shocking.
The initial cross into the six-yard box was nowhere near a Brentford head, but West Ham’s defenders did not let it sail out of play.
Instead, it was headed back into a dangerous area and a scuffed shot was turned in by Maupay, who ended a 35-game drought without a goal.
Mavropanos was brought into the backline due to Kurt Zouma being absent from the squad, but Moyes will now be eager for his skipper to return.
This loss was down to more than just this one action – United went on to lead 2-1, remember – but this was not Premier League-level defending.
It is a continuation of some really worrying performances in the league over the past month, with this a third defeat in a row.
More defending like this and West Ham will be looking over their shoulder in the Premier League because this slide is alarming.
In other West Ham news, a Sky Sports reporter has dropped a “surprised” verdict regarding Kudus.