Erling Haaland celebrates scoring for Manchester City.placeholder image
Erling Haaland celebrates scoring for Manchester City. | Getty Images
The former Wolves manager was on punditry duties as West Ham were beaten by Brentford on Monday night.
West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo was not pleased by his defenders’ efforts in the 2-0 defeat to Brentford on Monday night, making three changes at half-time after sloppy errors saw his team go 1-0 down.
The former Nottingham Forest manager may be counting down the weeks until the January window, when he may could add a few new faces to his struggling Hammers squad. The club has spent significant money on strengthening at the back in recent years, but those transfers have not been overwhelmingly successful.
Speaking on Sky Sports as a pundit following the defeat to Brentford, ex Wolves manager Gary O’Neil namechecked one former West Ham centre-back when analysing the form of Manchester City talisman Erling Haaland. The striker has 11 goals in eight Premier League appearances this term and O’Neil was asked how to stop him.
Gary O’Neil namechecks ex West Ham star when asked how to stop Erling Haaland
He replied: “You defend low and you pick Craig Dawson. We beat them at Wolves and Daws had him in his pocket for 90 minutes. Daws was a box defending specialist so we decided to defend in our box, whenever we were higher up the pitch we always kept Daws with some cover around him. When we got in and around our goal, Daws got himself up against Haaland.
“It doesn’t work all the time, they beat us 4 or 5-0 in the reverse fixture. He’s tough to stop. If you defend high, he can run in behind, if you get too deep and hang crosses up he can head them in. And if you concentrate on stopping in, Foden or Savinho or Doku appears off the side.”
Wolves beat Manchester City 2-1 in that fixture back in September 2023. Molineux News hailed Dawson as a ‘colossus’ for his efforts and quoted BBC Sport’s Garth Crooks, who said: “Seeing Pep Guardiola having to watch his team from the stands due to his touchline ban should have told us something. This was a bad afternoon for Manchester City and matters got progressively worse as the day wore on.
“The ball from Ruben Dias was matched by the cross-field volley from Matheus Nunes but the clearance by Wolves defender Dawson, as Erling Haaland was about to tap the ball home, was magnificent.
“Dawson went on to clear another certain goal off the line just as the champions looked as though they were back in control of the match. Wolves defended brilliantly on the day and Dawson in particular. They reduced arguably the best striker in the world to one genuine strike on goal.”
Troy Deeney on West Ham transfer dealings
Dawson spent three years at West Ham and was a reliable option at the heart of defence, making 87 appearances for the team and scoring nine goals. He is the type of presence that Nuno may wish he had today.
West Ham spent £40 million to sign Max Kilman from Wolves in 2024 and £36 million was forked out for Jean-Clair Todibo this summer. Earlier this week, on talkSPORT, former Premier League striker Troy Deeney had poured scorn on those deals and namechecked Dawson himself.
Deeney said: “The West Ham way, every time I meet someone, they can’t tell me what it is. What is the expectation?
“What are you actually building? You can have one or two but not four. I look around that team and go, where’s the kick on? You go back a few years, they got rid of Craig Dawson - who did well for them - and brought in Max Kilman for a lot of money. Is that a massive improvement? Does he take you over the line?”
In other news, Jamie Carragher slams West Ham ownership in support of Brentford Boycott.
Continue Reading