Matthew Upson leads damning review of ‘sloppy’ Aaron Cresswell in West Ham United loss v Brentford
Matthew Upson led a scathing review of West Ham United defender Aaron Cresswell after Brentford’s second goal in the Premier League on Friday night (30 December).
Despite starting brightly, the Hammers were caught napping twice, as Ivan Toney poked home the opening goal from short range, and Josh Dasilva netted a second just before the half.
Left-back Cresswell, who was operating as a centre-half in a back-five for David Moyes, was solely to blame for the comical second goal, and Upson was left astonished with the slapstick defending.
Commentating live on USA Network’s Premier League Channel, former West Ham United defender Upson said: “Well, what a sloppy passage of play.
“It started with that pass from Paqueta that gives the throw-away. But then it’s all about the desire of Da Silva. The pace, the power, and Cresswell just can’t deal with it.
“I think Cresswell has three or four yards on Da SIlva there, but he [Dasilva] wants it more.”
Terrible
Moyes would have hoped for more from Cresswell as his job starts to come into question, but the experienced pro did him no favours whatsoever.
The 33-year-old was out-muscled and out-paced by Dasilva in this passage of play, as a looping through ball left the pair in a foot race. The way Cresswell was shrugged off the ball just wasn’t good enough, and considering his manager’s job was on the line, fans would have hoped to see more desire from Cresswell.
The change to a back-five from Moyes – playing Coufal and Emerson as wing-backs – was worth the experiment, but the switch stifled his team’s creativity in the process.
Declan Rice and Lucas Paqueta were played around too often by Brentford and failed to dominate proceedings, apart from a bright opening 15 minutes.
The pressure is well and truly on Moyes now, and his job at the London Stadium could be untenable following the defeat.