Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has slammed West Ham United’s defence against Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon, stating that they made the ‘same unforgivable mistakes.’
The Hammers fell to a 2-1 defeat at the London Stadium to the hands of Bournemouth, who claimed victory with goals from Wilson and Cook after Marko Arnautovic took the lead from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute.
He told presenter Jeff Stelling on Sky Sport’s Soccer Saturday programme: “In the second half – and I’m sure you’ve seen the goals yourself – was the same old West Ham, might be one or two new faces, but same unforgivable mistakes.
“My goodness Jeff, it was shambolic. Pellegrini can pick holes in lots of different things – from previous that he’s inherited, to current. He has to improve that department [the defence].”
The Irons next fixture will be away to Arsenal next Saturday.
OPINION
Nicholas is right to tear into West Ham – they most definitely were not up to scratch on Saturday. They performed well in the first half with the likes of Jack Wilshere on the ball, but come the second half, everything seemed to fall apart from them. The Cherries are obviously not as tough opponents as Liverpool were last week, and they had no excuse not to get a positive result in front of their own fans. It is a worrying sign that they cannot hold onto or extend a lead against a team like Bournemouth, and they are likely to be faced with an even tougher one against Arsenal. If they perform like they did on Saturday, then the Gunners will rip them to shreds just like Liverpool did – and Manuel Pellegrini cannot afford to have a third loss on the bounce. Like Nicholas said – he needs to sort out the defence soon, or it will be a very long season for the Chilean coach.