- West Ham dropped into the relegation zone following the weekend’s action
- The Hammers have only kept three away clean sheets this season
- The loss follows the Irons going through all of April undefeated
It was evident that the defensive collective must bear some of the burden for West Ham United’s Saturday defeat to Brentford.
Until the 3-0 loss at the Gtech Community Stadium, the Hammers kept two clean sheets in their last three, but the leaky showing has now cast doubt on their future in the Premier League.
After failing to win a league game in five years, Nuno Espirito Santo was unable to improve his team’s startling record away to the West London team. In fact, the Irons’ away record this season is amongst the division’s worst, with a clear pattern of capitulation once they fall behind.
It was a collective collapse in their recent outing, one that left many bewildered, including Wayne Rooney.
Wayne Rooney highlights West Ham’s defensive faults vs Brentford
Whilst Konstantinos Mavropanos and Axel Disasi have struck up a commendable partnership since the latter’s arrival in the winter, it was their outside-backs that were at the crux of their defensive faults.
In all three of the goals that West Ham conceded on the day, the route by which play developed in threat started or was induced out wide, which BBC Sport pundit Rooney labelled an “appalling defensive display.”
For Brentford’s first, it can be seen that West Ham’s defensive line has been pinned inside their own box before Keane Lewis-Potter’s cross is floated in, and the resulting ball is not cleared by El Hadji Malick Diouf.
“Diouf gets caught underneath the ball and, really importantly, he doesn’t react. If he reacts, he may clear that,” Rooney said on BBC’s Match of the Day. “He doesn’t react, and Brentford get a slice of luck getting the own goal.”
After the melee, Mavropanos would skew his attempted clearance into his own net.
Left-back Diouf would be the clear offender again: unable to get any loft on his header, which falls to the feet of Dango Ouattara, who baits his marker into a challenge and earns a penalty, which Igor Thiago dispatches.
“Diouf gets a header, but now he has to sprint; he has to keep him going towards the touchline and not allow him to turn because the minute he allows him to turn, the attacker has the upper hand,” Rooney continued.
“It’s a good piece of skill, and then it’s a stupid, naïve tackle to give the penalty away.”
West Ham’s Premier League 25/26 defensive statistics
| xG conceded | Goals conceded | Penalties conceded | Red cards |
| 55.1 (18th) | 61 (18th) | 7 (T-1st) | 3 (T-3rd) |
All statistics according to Fotmob
The third and final goal comes from lackadaisical play from Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who played his first minutes since returning from international duty with DR Congo. The former Manchester United man jogs out to Lewis-Potter; Mikkel Damsgaard floats into the space vacated, and Adama Traoré is too late to close down the Danish midfielder who curls in his finish.
“West Ham’s defending was shocking. When you’re trying to stay in the Premier League, you can’t concede goals the way they did. It was an appalling defensive display,” said Rooney.
This season, the Hammers have conceded 61 goals in 35 Premier League games, worse than only Burnley (71) and Wolves (63), who have already been relegated. A worrying statistic that could foreshadow a dwindling season.
