Roy Keane and Graeme Souness have slammed West Ham United boss David Moyes for his decision to introduce Mark Noble against Manchester United.
The veteran midfielder came off the bench in the last minute of the game with the responsibility of taking a late penalty.
At the time, the Hammers were 2-1 down, with the possibility of claiming a point after Luke Shaw’s handball had been penalised.
The decision to put Noble on did not pay dividends though as David de Gea parried his penalty and in the process ended West Ham’s unbeaten start to the 2021/22 campaign.
Following the game, Keane and Souness were particularly scathing.
Talking on Sky Sports, Keane said: "Strange decision, he can’t have warmed up properly because it was so late in the game. I didn’t fancy him, I thought De Gea would save it.
"If he scores again it’s all justified, Gareth Southgate was criticised [for the same decision in England's Euro 2020 final over the summer] but to bring someone on who hasn’t had many minutes but sometimes a manager you try be too clever, you can say he’s took penalties before and he’s experienced, I don’t care.
"You have players on the pitch who are up to speed and slot the ball away."
Meanwhile, former Liverpool man Souness was also left baffled by Noble’s introduction.
He said: "It’s a poor decision, it’s the 94th minute he’s come on as a sub in the 94th minute, he’s stone cold, one or two things the managers decision and said on you go or Noble’s said get me on boss.
"Either way it’s the wrong decision, stone cold, doesn’t matter if he scores every penalty in training or every penalty before you don’t bring someone on who is stone cold been sat watching the game. It’s wrong."
