Former West Ham United centre-back Matthew Upson was not impressed by the roles El Hadji Malick Diouf and Crysencio Summerville unwittingly played during Brentford’s opening goal at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Malick Diouf was linked with a move to Manchester United this week. And, while the Senegal international was a VAR call away from an impressive sixth Premier League assist, the manner in which he defended in the lead up to Konstantinos Mavropanos’ 15th minute own goal showed how much work he still has to do out of possession.
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West Ham United’s left-back was in no-man’s land as Michael Kayode stomped into the box and slammed his initial effort off the post.
Upson felt that Crysencio Summerville was also found wanting, failing to track the Brentford barnstormer adequately before Mavropanos inadvertently fired the ball into his own net in a desperate attempt to get it clear.
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“This right-hand side is important for Brentford because their right-back, Kayode, loves to get into these positions. Nobody really deals with it,” said Upson, who spent four years at Upton Park from 2007 to 2011.
“Diouf gets a little bit caught underneath it. The desire of Kayode allows him to get ahead of Summerville. There’s a good bit of fortune as it lands right in front of Kayode, but it’s all about the desire of the Brentford right-back.
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“It was quite a scruffy goal to concede. Nobody at the back post takes control. It’s up to Diouf to get that away, but they allow it to drop and, unfortunately for them, it drops right at Kayode’s feet.”
Diouf praised assistant coach Paco Jemez for improving the Hammers’ defensive numbers, but Brentford’s early opener was a bit of a throwback to the lapses of Nuno Espirito Santo’s early days in East London.
West Ham, at least, posed plenty of attacking verve themselves in a frantic opening 45 minutes away to local rivals Brentford. Taty Castellanos struck the post twice, while Mavropanos nearly secured a unique place in West Ham history when his latest thumping finish was ruled out for a narrow offside.
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