Shearer says: “West Ham have been awful. Their defending is so bad it’s laughable”

Coral’s Simon Clare sat down with football ambassador Alan Shearer to discuss West Ham United’s poor start to the season, which was extended in their Premier League home draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Shearer says in his video blog that the Hammers cannot use moving into the Olympic Stadium as an excuse for sloppy displays at the back, and Slaven Bilic’s players need to take a look at themselves.

Listen to Shearer’s views, with the best quotes picked out below:

“It was like watching an Under-10 team”

“West Ham have been awful,” Shearer said prior to the Middlesbrough match. “I watched them last week and the week before, and their defending was so bad it was laughable. It was incredible.

“I said it on Match of the Day, but it was like watching an Under-10 team. Now I’m probably being disrespectful to the Under-10s, and will have to apologise!

“They’ve been all over the place. I know they’ve got one or two injuries, I know they sold one or two players, I know they’ve moved into a new stadium, but that in itself really is not an excuse because they’ve been away from home also and they’ve been awful.”

“To use the new stadium as an excuse is not really acceptable”

“To use the new stadium as an excuse is not really acceptable. Yes, it’s different for the players, staff and supporters, but it’s also different for other teams coming in there, so I don’t really buy that.