Tony Gale was not impressed with Jean-Clair Todibo as West Ham took on Nottingham Forest at the London Stadium on Tuesday.
Todibo was handed a start by Nuno Espirito Santo and he partnered Konstantinos Mavropanos in the heart of the defence.
West Ham are on course to pick up a point against Nottingham Forest, with the game in the balance at 78 minutes.
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Jean-Clair Todibo slammed for his role in conceding corner to Nottingham Forest
Gale, a Sky Sports pundit, was on co-commentary duties on Premier League Productions for the game.
He gave a fair, albeit critical, verdict on how the Hammers defended right from the start at the London Stadium, and that eventually led to them conceding their opener.
Nicolas Dominguez scored from a corner in the 55th minute, and in Gale’s view, the concession of the corner could have been avoided.
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Ola Aina took a long throw-in and it was an easy one for Todibo to deal with.
However, he made a mess of it as he misjudged the flight of the ball and failed to get his head on the ball.
This saw the players around him enter a state of confusion, and Kyle Walker-Peters had to spare West Ham’s blushes by putting the ball out for a corner.
Looking at this incident, Gale said: “What on Earth is Todibo doing? Completely misjudged it.
“Run under the flight of the ball and it’s the type of mistakes that cost you dearly. It’s only a corner on this occasion; they get a bit lucky.
“It’s horrendous defending.”
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This performance against one of the worst teams in the league, which was followed by a 3-0 defeat against Wolves, shows just how bad the Hammers are defensively.
Todibo has not been the worst defender for them this season, but it’s evident that reinforcements are needed.
Charlie Cresswell is West Ham’s primary target, and the hierarchy are expected to make a move for him sooner rather than later.
There are other defensive targets also being considered, and they could be pursued if Cresswell is not signed from Toulouse in the next few weeks.
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