Jamie Carragher and Gary O’Neil could hardly believe what they were seeing as Brentford belatedly took the lead during Monday’s 2-0 win at Premier League crisis club West Ham United.
And if Nuno Espirito Santo was not happy with Nottingham Forest’s recruitment department – a high profile falling out with Edu Gaspar led to his acrimonious departure – a penny for his thoughts in the Hammers dugout.
Nuno saw his West Ham United side collapse to an alarming degree on a night where plenty of empty seats could be spotted at kick-off amid a pre-planned fan boycott. Those who belatedly took their position on the terraces may have wondered why they bothered.
Opposite number Keith Andrews hoped that Brentford would ‘hurt’ West Ham from set-piece situations. And while they came close to doing exactly that on numerous occasions throughout the first-half – the Bees accumulated a remarkable eight attempts on goal during a five-minute spell, and 15 across the opening 45 in total – the goal which put the Bees ahead came from open play.
And rather summed up Max Kilman’s career in claret and blue.
Nuno praised his former Wolves stalwart Kilman shortly after taking charge. But two defeats later, the manager will now be fully aware regarding the size of the task facing him as he looks to get a £40 million centre-half playing, well, anything like a £40 million centre-half.
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty ImagesJamie Carragher criticises Max Kilman as West Ham United lose to Brentford
Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo were abysmal. A pair of defenders who cost the Hammers nearly £80 million combined seemed to be trying to out-do each other, at times. Who could make more mistakes, and who would cost their team first?
In the end, the answer proved to be Kilman. A simple long ball, a lazy dangling leg, and suddenly Brentford were in. Todibo could not cover quickly enough, and Igor Thiago got enough lift on his shot to beat the otherwise-impressive Alphonse Areola.
“He’s just got to go and head that or get his chest on it!” Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports. “He’s too passive.”
Carragher, as one of the finest centre-halves of his generation, cannot understand why Kilman let a hopeful ball loop over his head. Especially with the explosive Kevin Schade closing him down, and fast.
“He’s the leader at the back for West Ham!” an incredulous Carragher added. “I used to really like him at Wolves but he probably didn’t have that responsibility at Wolves.
“When you are the leading main centre-half, you’ve got to dominate that situation.”
It is true that Max Kilman stood out at Wolverhampton Wanderers primarily due to his qualities with the ball at his feet, rather than because of his defensive instincts, but there are plenty of lower-league centre-halves who would have been disappointed to concede a goal of almost Sunday League-esque proportions.
Former Wolves boss Gary O’Neil highlights Kilman’s biggest problem
While Kilman has been reunited with Nuno in East London, he also played 44 matches under former West Ham midfielder Gary O’Neil at Molineux.
“West Ham will be devastated with the nature of the [Thiago] goal. At Premier League level, to have four v three… Max has to go and head that,” O’Neil said. “They need to be more aggressive, the centre-backs.
“You can’t be losing duels at this part of the pitch at Premier League level.”
O’Neil was asked about Kilman’s staggering decline pre-match, too. Even in happier times at Wolves, he felt that the 28-year-old had a worrying tendency to switch off at potentially crucial moments.
“He’s probably not found his form yet. We used to speak about not switching off the engine because he looks for a rest [on the pitch],” O’Neil explains.
“I’ve been watching him recently, and I’m sure Nuno will be drilling into him; ‘Don’t rely on your pace and physicality. Make sure you’re always switched on’.”
Presuming that is the message coming from Nuno, it is one certainly worth repeating.