Former Manchester United Women's head coach Casey Stoney criticised midfielder Donny van de Beek for his defensive error that allowed West Ham United to claim a 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Tuesday evening.
The Dutchman, who has struggled for opportunities at United since joining the club from Ajax 12 months ago, was questioned for his decision to get dragged towards the ball and failing to close down Manuel Lanzini, who netted the only goal of the game after eight minutes.
Hammers right-back Ryan Fredericks got to the byline and pulled the ball back for Lanzini to fire home a cool, side-footed effort. As Lanzini made his way into the penalty area, Van de Beek was almost touch-tight to him. However, he ran towards the ball when Fredericks broke into the box, leaving Lanzini in plenty of space to pull the trigger and fire the ball beyond Dean Henderson.
Considering this was just van de Beek's second start of the season in all competitions, it was not the error he would have wanted to have committed, especially when United failed to find a route back into the game.
For Stoney, she struggled to understand why van de Beek had felt the need to go towards the ball and leave Lanzini in space.
"It’s poor defending, he’s got him in his eyesight, I don’t know why he thinks he’s got to go affect the ball, he just needs to stay with his player," Stoney told Sky Sports.
"He’s been drawn to the ball, he’s had his eyes on the ball, not checked his shoulder, there’s only one ball from the by-line and that’s the cut-back, that’s the danger so you’ve got to stay on your player and realise the danger."
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