“Really, really poor” – BT pundit Stuart Pearce slams West Ham player after terrible performance in Crystal Palace defeat
Stuart Pearce has slammed Emerson Palmieri for his ‘really poor’ defending as Wilfried Zaha scored for Crystal Palace against West Ham United.
The Eagles hosted the Hammers at Selhurst Park in the Premier League and played a frantic first half on Saturday. Crystal Palace would lead 3-2 at the break.
Tomas Soucek (9’) broke the deadlock early on for the Irons only to see Jordan Ayew (15’) draw the hosts level. Zaha (20’) then secured Roy Hodgson’s team the lead before Jeffrey Schlupp (30’) added a third.
Michail Antonio (35’) would keep the Hammers in the game before the break. But it was from Emerson’s error that Zaha had put West Ham behind at Crystal Palace.
Zaha met Michail Olise’s cross after bursting in at the far post to fire past Lukasz Fabianski.
Olise caused the Irons a wealth of problems throughout the first 45 minutes and drove into the area.
His cutback would take a few deflections but the Irons could not clear their lines. Emerson also annoyed Pearce in how the full-back failed to stop Olise’s run.
Pearce said on talkSPORT: “It’s a common long ball, a 60-yarder straight up.
“But instead of heading it where it came from, Emerson has backed away and he’s in big, big trouble.
“Really poor defending from Emerson. And then as soon as Olise got in he’s found a pass to Zaha and he’s just there on his own to prod the ball in. A very soft goal.”
Zaha’s goal may have left West Ham boss David Moyes to rue deciding to start Emerson at Crystal Palace.
The Irons’ £13m, rising to £15m, signing from Chelsea in August 2022 had not featured in their last four Premier League fixtures.
Moyes had last entrusted Emerson with featuring after starting as Newcastle United beat West Ham 5-1 at the London Stadium. But the Scottish coach dropped Aaron Cresswell to the bench, despite his capable efforts against Mohamed Salah on Wednesday night.
Cresswell started over Emerson in West Ham’s four Premier League games between losing to Newcastle and visiting Crystal Palace.
He had also offered an assist in the Hammers’ 4-0 win over Bournemouth for the 33-year-old’s first of the season. Emerson had not laid on an assist through his 16 Premier League appearances this season before facing Crystal Palace.
So, Emerson failing to do his defensive duties against Olise in the build-up to Zaha’s goal clearly frustrated Moyes. He hooked the Italian at the break for Cresswell.
