Joe Cole hit out at West Ham’s ‘criminal’ defending after they conceded twice in the first 18 minutes at home to Chelsea.
Nicolas Jackson put Chelsea ahead after just four minutes after taking advantage of slack defending and the forward proceeded to make it 2-0 in the 18th minute.
Cole, who played for both clubs, described West Ham’s defensive work as ‘very, very poor’ and was especially critical of both Konstantinos Mavropanos and Edson Alvarez.
Speaking on TNT Sports, Cole said: ‘West Ham were very, very poor. The manager got it wrong. If you’ve got Mavropanos and Alvarez running back towards your own goal three or four times there’s something wrong.’
In addition, Cole also criticised the positioning of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who arrived in east London from Manchester United this summer.
Joe Cole criticised West Ham for their ‘criminal’ defending as they faced Chelsea
Cole criticised Konstantinos Mavropanos as West Ham struggled defensively
‘It’s fantastic from Jackson. The first ten minutes of the derby, three players not concentrating, that’s criminal. Wan-Bissaka, you have to retreat. Alvarez that’s exactly where you don’t want to be as a midfield player, chasing after someone that’s quicker than you.
‘From Chelsea’s perspective it’s an excellent finish from Jackson. So often particularly in the first 20 minutes, West Ham’s pressing was all over the place. Wan-Bissaka’s pushing into midfield. West Ham are in a foot race and they’ve lost it.’
There was further misery for West Ham after the break, with Cole Palmer making it 3-0 to Chelsea.
West Ham went into this fixture having won just one of their first four Premier League games of the season, and now the pressure will surely be mounting on Julen Lopetegui.
The Spanish boss was unsurprisingly far from pleased by what he saw from his team on Saturday afternoon.
‘Of course today is a bad day for all of us and we have to look forward and work hard and think about the future,’ Lopetegui said.
‘We are very, very frustrated. It was a very soft way to lose. We suffered two early goals, we can and have to do better. We had more chances and more of the ball but that is not important.
Cole, who played for both clubs, described West Ham’s defensive work as ‘very, very poor’
‘We can defend much better. When you suffer the first goal it makes the rest of the match more difficult and then after the second goal it is the same.
‘This group of players are going to improve. They are to have time to give the fans the best of themselves. They deserve this. We feel their support, their ambition.’
