Former West Ham United right-back Glenn Johnson has laid into the club's players and manager Manuel Pellegrini for ‘clearly not being bothered’ about the Carabao Cup following their exit at the hands of League One side Oxford United on Wednesday night.
With the game evenly poised at 0-0 at half time, the League One U’s, who will have been brimming with confidence after a 6-0 hammering of Lincoln City at the weekend, stunned West Ham, scoring four times in the second half without reply.
The defeat for West Ham has, understandably, raised questions about the Hammers’ care and passion for the cup competitions, with the FA Cup now being the only trophy that the Londoners can now get their hands on this season.
And Johnson, who started his career with the Hammers, has slammed the club for their approach to the competition.
He told talkSPORT: “They’ve been battered.
“Yes, they made changes and obviously these competitions can kick up the odd strange result, but to be hammered 4-0… that’s not just exiting the competition, that’s getting battered and destroyed.
“If they lost on penalties or it was 1-0, you think ‘yes, that can happen in football,’ but they made nine changes and were clearly played off the park by a mid-table League One side.
“I genuinely don’t get it, it’s a chance of winning trophy and a chance of winning a trophy by February.
“Clubs use it to give young lads minutes and give players who aren’t regularly playing a game, but you can do that at the same time as taking the cup seriously. You can still field a strong side and give a few players a chance.
“But to make nine changes, I think that is blatantly saying, ‘we’re not bothered, we’re just going to keep everybody fit for the weekend.’”
Johnson, who retired from football earlier this year, twice won the League Cup as a player, once with Chelsea and once with Liverpool and was left puzzled by the Hammers’ desire to not compete for the trophy this term.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to win this competition twice and it’s something no one can ever take away from you," the former England international added.
“Their squad haven’t won many medals between them, so surely they’d love to get a trophy somewhere.
“West Ham aren’t going to be in the top four, they’re not going to be fighting for the Premier League, so this is the perfect opportunity for the mid-table teams to really field a good outfit and give it a good run.
“The bigger teams, of course, have the Champions League, they’re fighting for titles and they might rest players, but ultimately they’ve got a squad they can rotate and still have a strong side.
“West Ham don’t have that.”
