Harry Redknapp rages at Angelo Ogbonna after ‘terrible’ West Ham United incident v Liverpool
It was a night to forget for West Ham as Liverpool ran out 5-1 victors in the EFL Cup quarter-final and Harry Redknapp did not mince his words about Angelo Ogbonna’s role in the loss.
It was a tough night for all involved with the Hammers, with Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah putting them to the sword and reaching the semi-final of the competition.
A Jones brace finished off a five-star performance from Jurgen Klopp’s Reds but the former West Ham manager targeted Ogbonna for his actions during the fifth and final Liverpool goal.
“It’s terrible, terrible defending,” he said live on Sky Sports on Wednesday night (20 December 10:10pm).
“Just look at Ogbonna and his effort to stop him (Jones). I don’t know what he’s doing. He has turned his body sideways.
“To do what? I don’t know. It’s really poor.”
Lacking leadership
For the second time in 10 days, David Moyes and West Ham had shipped five goals against a team and had little to no answer, apart from a sublime goal from Jarrod Bowen.
Despite a shaky first-half performance, the Hammers were still in the game at 1-0 down. However, Alphonse Areola’s nervousness seemed to seep into the rest of the team, with Ogbonna and Konstantinos Mavropanos making far too many mistakes against a vicious Liverpool attack.
It may have been a shocking team display, but the defence has a lot to answer for when it comes to the manner in which the goals were allowed to be scored. At 4-1 down, it becomes understandable when heads begin to drop and players lose all motivation.
But it was the lack of heart and desire that got West Ham to the position in the first place. With the usual centre-back pairing of Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd rested, the defensive performance could be justified if inexperienced centre-halves were given a chance.
However, with 240 appearances for the Hammers since 2015, there is absolutely no excuse for how Ogbonna performed on Wednesday night and should be especially ashamed for his cowardness leading to Jones’ second goal.
In other West Ham news, Jurgen Klopp has made an admission over the future of Hammers boss David Moyes.