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Chris Sutton unimpressed with West Ham duo, describing one as ‘brainless’
of West Ham United’s 0-0 draw with Aston Villa that Arthur Masuaku is “brainless”, and that Andriy Yarmolenko was not good enough on Monday night.
West Ham drew 0-0 with Aston Villa away from home, with Villa perhaps edging the match and having enough chances to have snatched a winner. Lukasz Fabianski denied John McGinn, while Jack Grealish and Wesley both had decent opportunities.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side were reduced to 10 men with a quarter of the match to play, after Masuaku was shown a second yellow card by Mike Dean. Despite making little contact with Ahmed El Mohamady, he still fouled the Egyptian defender.
Indeed, former Villa striker Sutton reckons that Masuaku was “reckless” in diving in on El Mohamady and giving Dean a decision to make. He was also disappointed with Yarmolenko, who continues to recover match fitness after a long injury.
“Reckless. Brainless. What are you protesting about? Get off, it’s a stupid challenge. He dived in. We know Mike Dean loves to get the red card out. He didn’t need to make the challenge. He does catch him.”
: “Andriy Yarmolenko is trying to work his way back to fitness. He didn’t really get involved enough tonight.”
TBR’s view – Harsh on Masuaku, or is Sutton right?
Masuaku will feel somewhat hard done by as he recieves criticism for what is, to put it simply, El Mohamady deceiving referee Dean by implicating that there was more contact. But Sutton is right.
To go steaming into a challenge like that, on a yellow card, is foolish. In fact, Masuaku is lucky that he did not connect with El Mohamady more than he did – and then it would have been a definite sending off.
But Sutton has hit the nail on the head. You cannot dive in, in the Premier League with Mike Dean as referee – and expect to get away with it. Masuaku will feel hard done by, but he must be more street smart.
It is Masuaku’s second red card for West Ham since joining the club for £6million (), after being sent off against Wigan under David Moiyes in the FA Cup.
