Leon Osman laughs at West Ham United and David Moyes question live on Match of the Day
Leon Osman cut off Mark Chapman live on Match of the Day with a laugh as he was asked whether David Moyes would be understanding of Konstantinos Mavropanos’ mistake for West Ham against Crystal Palace.
The former Everton man, who played under Moyes during his time at the club, called upon his own experience of the boss, claiming he’s no more understanding of individual errors than collective ones.
Osman insisted Moyes and his West Ham teammates would be frustrated by the mistake, although the defender will be aware he got it wrong.
Speaking live on Match of the Day 2 [3 December, 1:16:00], Chapman asked: “Having played under him for many, many years, is he more understanding…” Before Osman immediately cut him off with a laugh at the idea.
Chapman also laughed, but continued: “Is he more understanding of individual errors rather than just a bad team performance?”
Osman then replied bluntly: “No, I don’t think he is,” before going on to say: “I think he’ll be very frustrated, as will his teammates, but Mavropanos knows he’s messed up with that. They missed Kurt Zouma today, there’s no doubt about that.”
Standards need to be kept high
It may sound harsh, and some managers would prefer to put an arm around the shoulder of a player after a mistake, but Moyes needs to ensure the standards are kept high at the London Stadium, and mistakes that cost the team points like this one are simply not good enough.
Mavropanos will be as aware as anybody that he made a mistake, so there’s no need for any long-term focus on the error itself, but Moyes’ attitude and style of management is not one that would likely see him forgive immediately after the fact.
As shared on Match of the Day 2, West Ham have dropped 12 points from winning positions so far this season. Moyes will know that isn’t good enough and will be working to address it, but when individual errors like that cost you the result, what can you do?
Fans will say the game should have been one they looked to win, given the form of Crystal Palace and the fact they were without their two best players in Ebere Eze and Cheick Doucoure, but with a mistake like that one, frustrations will lay with the defender.
In other West Ham news, a pundit called out one Hammers man live on air after what he did v Palace.