Tony Cascarino cannot believe how good two West Ham stars have been
A ‘big surprise’ indeed; West Ham United, in almost the blinking of an eye, have gone from the most porous team in the Premier League to one of the most water-tight.
The last time the Hammers faced Brentford – on what was Nuno Espirito Santo’s London Stadium debut six months ago – Igor Thiago had plenty of joy against Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo. It would take a catastrophic last-gasp injury blow for either centre-half to start at the Gtech Community Stadium this afternoon.
Axel Disasi and Konstantinos Mavropanos are rapidly developing into West Ham United’s most reliable pairing since the heady days of Craig Dawson and Kurt Zouma.
How would you explain West Ham’s IMPROVED set-piece record?
Nuno was ‘really concerned’ at one point…
Even up against a centre-forward who only Erling Haaland has outscored this season, Nuno sounds like a man very confident in his defence’s ability to deal with the danger.
Tony Cascarino blown away by West Ham United’s defensive improvement
Confidence Alan Pardew shares – the former Hammers boss calls Axel Disasi a ‘revelation’ – and something Tony Cascarino did not see coming.
“The big surprise for me; we know (Jarrod) Bowen, (Crysencio) Summerville, (Taty) Castellanos, they’ve all come in and they’re all players that can deliver for them now,” Cascarino, the former Chelsea, Aston Villa, Celtic and Republic of Ireland striker, tells talkSPORT.
“But the big surprise to me is how well the partnership at the centre-half position; Mavropanos and Disasi, how well they’ve defended.”
West Ham had the worst defensive record in the league before Disasi made his debut in a 2-0 win at Turf Moor in February. Forty-eight goals conceded in their first 24 matches.
In ten matches with Disasi partnering Mavropanos in front of Mads Hermansen, the Hammers have the eighth-best defensive record as well as the seventh-most points.
What changes are you making to this team? Just don’t think Wilson should start 😬
A frontline boasting the finishing of Igor Thiago, the speed of Kevin Schade and the unpredictability of Dango Ouattara means Brentford away is one of the tougher challenges facing West Ham in a survival fight destined to go down to the wire.
But at least Nuno now has the tools to combat the problems their opposition will cause.
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