TalkSPORT broadcaster blasts Ben Johnson after ‘Teletubbies’ display in West Ham United 5-1 loss v Liverpool
Tom Rennie slammed West Ham United defender Ben Johnson after his “Teletubbies” display in the 5-1 EFL Cup defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday.
Jurgen Klopp’s men cruised into the Carabao Cup semi-finals with a dominant performance against a much-changed West Ham defence on Wednesday (20 December) which saw Johnson make just his second start all season.
And talkSPORT broadcaster and pundit Rennie taking to his personal Twitter account (now X) (20 December) during the game, slammed the West Ham academy graduate for his lack of intensity and disinterest.
He posted: “Ben Johnson is just so bad now. I don’t know what’s happened to him, but he just doesn’t look interested. All the intensity of an episode of Teletubbies.”
Actually looked decent
West Ham United were indeed awful throughout the 5-1 defeat at Anfield as David Moyes saw his torrid record at Anfield continue, with the Scot still searching for his first win at the stadium in 21 visits.
The Hammers simply did not lay a single glove or a foot on the Reds as they completely tore apart a hapless defence that possessed an inconsistent Vladimir Coufal, an unready Konstantinos Mavropanos and a past-his-best Angelo Ogbonna.
Such changes by Moyes were only going to lead one way and the West Ham United manager must take the brunt of the blame for his side’s lack of intensity, quality, aggression and simple basics in defending during the game.
Despite the Irons’ lethargic defence, Johnson actually looked the more hungrier of his teammates and put in a much better showing than the scathing criticisms suggest.
The 23-year-old showed the energy and aggression Moyes was looking for and tried to make things happen in terms of ball progression and attacking endeavour at times, going on impressive mazy runs and delivering penetrative passing into the final third but his teammates simply weren’t on the same wavelength.
The result and performance of the whole team may certainly overrule and override Johnson’s individual display and that’s something he must learn from but certain actions he performed at Anfield were encouraging, especially with his immediate future at the club uncertain.
In other West Ham news, BBC pundit Chris Sutton has shared his prediction ahead of Saturday’s clash with Manchester United and launched an attack on Erik ten Hag after what he saw recently.