Roy Keane was highly critical of West Ham in his analysis of their 3-1 defeat to Newcastle on Sunday evening.
The Hammers were expected to play on the front foot from the first whistle, as they needed to win to escape the relegation zone.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side went 2-0 down within 20 minutes after a catalogue of errors from their backline.
Keane could not believe what he was watching, as West Ham looked completely out of sorts at St. James’ Park.
Which West Ham player was the most infuriating against Newcastle United?
The Hammers were shambolic at St. James' Park…
Roy Keane fumes at ‘casual’ West Ham display vs Newcastle
Newcastle’s first goal came from Mads Hermansen’s misplaced pass to Jean-Clair Todibo in the 14th minute.
Harvey Barnes went past Todibo as if he were not there, and Mateus Fernandes failed to close him down.
Barnes picked out Nick Woltemade for an easy finish to put West Ham under pressure in a nightmare start to the game.
Speaking at half-time, Keane was baffled by the Hammers’ “casual” defending in such a serious situation.
“They’ve not been compact enough. We spoke before the game; we talked about being casual,” Keane explained on Sky Sports.
“Mistake after mistake, and that can happen in football. It’s what you do after the original mistake.
“You’ve got midfielders not getting out to the ball. You’ve got players standing on their own. It’s too casual.
That couldn’t have gone much worse! Can you explain what went wrong? 😞
“You’re away from home. We talked about staying in the game like they did last week against Arsenal. Everyone is too spread out, not compact. Not good enough.”
West Ham’s misery was compounded just four minutes later when William Osula finished off a ruthless Newcastle counter-attack.
The 22-year-old scored again in the second half to end the Hammers’ chances of completing a famous comeback.
Taty Castellanos produced a screamer in the 68th minute, but they could not find another way past Nick Pope in the closing stages.
West Ham have had many issues this season, but their lacklustre defending might have been the biggest.
With 65 goals conceded in 37 games, the third-worst record in the league, it is not surprising that they are in the bottom three.
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