Given that Gianfranco Zola learned under the great Arrigo Sacchi, the former West Ham United coach is well-placed to pick apart another dreadful defensive display from Graham Potter’s Premier League stragglers.
An eventual 3-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur – a second heavy home defeat by a London rival this season already – is made all the more frustrating when you consider how West Ham United performed throughout the opening 45 minutes.
As Spurs started to turn the screw, taking control after Lucas Paqueta missed a glorious chance to give the hosts the lead, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Max Kilman won countless headers, dominated a lost-looking Matyhs Tel, and ensured Mads Hermansen barely had a save to make.
And after Kilman initially appeared justified in his pre-match confidence that Kyle Walker-Peters and Malick Diouf would shackle Tottenham’s widemen, the Hammers found themselves a quarter-of-an-hour away from a second clean sheet in a row.
So, as his old employers collapsed for what felt like the umpteenth time already this season, Gianfranco Zola could only shake his head and sigh.
West Ham United duo Dinos Mavropanos and Kyle Walker-Peters criticised by Gianfranco Zola
Zola, while a free-spirited forward in his playing days, knows a thing or two about the art of defending.
He made his Italy debut in 1991 under the legendary Arrigo Sacchi, after all. And while Sacchi was never quite as tuned into ‘Catenaccio’ as some of his contemporaries, Zola recalls the attention to detail the two-time European Cup winner would exercise on the training pitch.
He certainly cannot imagine Lucas Bergvall getting the run on Mavropanos, or drifting goalside of Walker-Peters, if a prime-era Sacchi was time travelled into the London Stadium dugout.
“I worked with Sacchi and he was very, very into these situations,” Zola said on Sky Sports at full-time. “The defender [Mavropanos] has to be already on the [goal] side and running backwards.
“Especially the right-back, you have to cover. [Walker-Peters] was too wide.”
Bergvall’s towering header came just moments after Tomas Soucek was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Joao Palhinha.
While Crysencio Summerville and Diouf showed real promise down the left-hand side and Mateus Fernandes put in another eye-catching, all-action display, a relegation battle appears inevitable unless Graham Potter can find a solution to the defensive deficiencies which continue to hold the Hammers back.
Graham Potter disappointed by Spurs collapse and Tomas Soucek red card
Despite a clean sheet last time out at Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Hermansen have now conceded 11 goals in four Premier League matches. Fourteen in five, if you include the 3-2 Carabao Cup loss at Wolves.
Potter, meanwhile, was left in the very familiar position of bemoaning the sight of a strong start proceeding a rapid-fire collapse.
“The first-half was a positive performance for us. We connected well as a team and attacked well,” Potter told reporters after a fourth defeat in five matches across all competitions.
“We were incredibly committed and together as a team, so it was disappointing the second-half panned out the way it did. We had the red card after conceding and were quickly 2-0 down and it got away from us.
“We made a mistake for the first goal and they executed it well. We should do better. We had a good reaction, Jarrod [Bowen] had a shot, but it became uncomfortable after the red card.”
“I don’t think there was intent from Tomas and there wasn’t a lot of speed in it but, when you go with your studs raised, you’ve got a problem.”
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