West Ham United central defender Konstantinos Mavropanos has come under criticism from pundits Jamie Carragher and Rob Green.
Mavropanos was in action for West Ham against Bournemouth away from home at the Vitality Stadium in the Premier League on Monday evening.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Lucas Paqueta put the Hammers in the lead from the penalty spot in the 87th minute, and just three minutes later Enes Unal curled home a brilliant free-kick for the Cherries.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was not happy with the way West Ham centre-back Mavropanos gave the free-kick away in the first place.
The former Liverpool defender noted that the 27-year-old Greece international centre-back did not have to commit the foul in the first place.
Former West Ham goalkeeper Rob Green has also criticised Mavropanos for giving away the free-kick on the edge of his penalty box.
Pundits criticise West Ham United defender Konstantinos Mavropanos
Carragher said on Sky Sports Premier League (10:11pm, December 18, 2024): “It’s just a daft foul. What are you trying to do to get the ball? He has got his back to play, he is going nowhere. Absolutely ridiculous to give a foul away there.”
Green said on Premier League Productions: “West Ham defended really well for the majority of the game but it’s a rash tackle from Mavropanos to give away the free-kick.
“The back line was really good, and Fabianski himself was excellent; it was a perfect away Premier League performance until that moment. It took something special to get Bournemouth back into the game.”
View: Konstantinos Mavropanos needs to do better
Mavropanos is 27 now and has a lot of experience. The former Arsenal defender is a senior player in the West Ham team and he should do better.
West Ham had just taken the lead. There were only a few minutes left in the Premier League game.
As Carragher noted, there was no real danger of Bournemouth scoring from that attack. Yet Mavropanos decided to make a really bad challenge.
It was reckless. The Greek defender needs to be more careful from now on and has to be more sensible under such circumstances.
Mavropanos’s overall performance was not great either. He was not overly confident under pressure.
According to WhoScored, against Bournemouth, Mavropanos took one shot, played one key pass and had a pass accuracy of 78.4%. He won three headers and took 64 touches.
The former Arsenal player made one tackle, one interception and four clearances.