NBC Sports pundits slam something ‘unacceptable’ they saw in West Ham United v Nottingham Forest
Stephen Warnock slammed Nottingham Forest for their “unacceptable” errors in Sunday’s (12 November) 3-2 Premier League loss at West Ham.
Tomas Soucek ultimately settled an entertaining five-goal contest at London Stadium with a header in the 88th minute.
Forest gifted West Ham their opening goal and conceded twice to James Ward-Prowse set-pieces to come out second best in East London.
Reviewing the game for NBC Sports [12 November], Warnock said: “If you make fewer mistakes, you have a chance of winning the game.
“You can’t make three mistakes away from home and not expect to be punished in the Premier League.
“Steve Cooper will be furious. The first goal is a poor pass, then two set-pieces conceded away from home. Unacceptable.”
Fellow pundit Robbie Earle added: “There’s some inconsistency. [Forest] didn’t start well and didn’t finish well.
“But they played some good football at times and got into the game. But those errors are going to be costly.”
Full advantage
Conceding from set-pieces is a pet hate for managers at any level, but give credit to Ward-Prowse for the quality of his deliveries.
Forest did try their absolute best to lose this game, however, and fair play to West Ham for taking advantage of their opponents’ sloppiness.
Nicolas Dominguez was the guiltiest party, as he gave the ball away in the build-up to Lucas Paqueta’s early opener.
Forest have the joint-fewest away league victories of any side in England’s top four tiers since the start of last season [BBC Sport], so this always looked a nice fixture on the face of it for West Ham.
The victory – even if it did come very late on – snapped a three-game losing run in the league and lifted United back into the top half, making for a more positive mood around the camp across the international break.
In other West Ham news, a Sky Sports pundit has laughed at recent speculation linking United with an in-demand player.