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'Has always been terrible': Don Hutchison singles out one West Ham player in Chelsea debacle

When searching for clips to sum up the dreadful nature of West Ham United’s defending in their 5-1 hammering by Premier League rivals Chelsea, Don Hutchison was spoilt for choice.

Enzo Maresca’s side ran riot at the London Stadium, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 lead in the space of 43 brutal minutes either side of half-time.

Hutchison could have picked Chelsea’s fourth goal, scored by Moises Caicedo, as the rock bottom moment of a miserable evening. While Rob Green feels Graham Potter should take some blame for Mads Hermansen’s disastrous start to life at West Ham United, the new goalkeeper hardly covered himself in glory when he flapped a cross straight into Caicedo’s path.

Hutchison could have picked the goal which put Chelsea in front for the first time. Lucas Paqueta coughed up possession right on the edge of his own penalty area. Or the third, maybe; Both Nayef Aguerd and Max Kilman caught out as Estevao breezed through to assist Enzo Fernandez.

Instead, Don Hutchison picked not a goal but the series of events which led to the corner from which Caicedo converted. And, once again, it was Aaron Wan-Bissaka at the scene of the crime.

Tuning in from back in the North West, it was deja vu for Manchester United supporters watching Aaron Wan-Bissaka suffer a nasty case of narcolepsy at the back post during Chelsea’s three first-half goals.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Pedro Neto during West Ham vs Chelsea in the Premier League

Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images

Don Hutchison savages Aaron Wan-Bissaka as Chelsea hammer West Ham United

Wan-Bissaka lost Joao Pedro for the visitors’ first, Pedro Neto for the second, and Enzo Fernandez for the third.

‘Some things never change’, one Red Devil quipped, with the right-back’s old Achilles heel exposed once again.

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Hutchison, though, felt an abysmal Wan-Bissaka display was best summed up when Marc Cucurella sauntered in behind him and won a corner, the reigning Hammer of the Year hardly busting a proverbial gut to get back in position once he had been caught out for the umpteenth time.

“So basic this, Wan-Bissaka letting Cucurella run behind him [for Chelsea’s] fourth goal,” fumed Hutchison, writing on X.

“I always thought ‘AWB’ tries hard [but his] positional sense has always been terrible. Always too high up the pitch. He has had a proper stinker tonight.”

While a fine one-v-one defender he may be, the £15 million signing does possess a very unhelpful habit of falling asleep at the worst possible moments.

Wan-Bissaka was one of three players rated 2/10 by Hammers News on a traumatic night.

Hutchison, who spent two years at Upton Park in the 1990s, could not perform an autopsy of another West Ham horror show without mentioning the midfield though.

Graham Potter’s midfield collapses again with Mateus Fernandes and Soungoutou Magassa needed

Graham Potter introduced Tomas Soucek for Guido Rodriguez. His only change from the 3-0 bashing by Sunderland.

Former Hammers coach Stuart Pearce was among those clamouring for Soucek’s return pre-match but, on the pitch, it made little difference as a faster, fitter Chelsea outfit again ran rings around Potter’s treacle-shoed midfield two.

“I go back to it though. Not enough legs in this team! They can’t run,” an exasperated Hutchison adds, watching on in horror as the Chelsea supporters started the ‘oles’ with only 30 minutes on the clock.

"I've seen some defending in my life, that was as bad as it gets" 😬

Jamie Redknapp says West Ham's squad is destined for a relegation fight 😶 pic.twitter.com/Y1wFra1a0r

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 22, 2025

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“Honestly, at home West Ham should be 30 yards higher up the pitch closing them down. It’s embarrassing watching Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez bopping four-yard passes to each other.

“Too deep, no legs, no one willing to put a foot in.”

Fortunately, if there is a silver lining, it’s that the transfer window still has a few days left to run.

West Ham remain hopeful of signing Mateus Fernandes despite Southampton rejecting an improved offer of £30 million. Hammers News can confirm that West Ham are ‘closing in’ on Soungoutou Magassa of Monaco as well, although rival interest from Nottingham Forest could complicate matters.

If Ward-Prowse, Soucek and Rodriguez lack the ‘legs’ to handle Premier League opposition, one accusation that could not be thrown at Fernandes or Magassa is regards an absence of mobility.

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