West Ham fans rage over their woeful defending in 5-3 friendly defeat to Bournemouth

West Ham supporters online were fuming over the weekend at the defending during their 5-3 friendly defeat at home to Championship side Bournemouth on Saturday. 

A week before the new Premier League season, the Hammers‘ back-line looked all at sea on occasions as the Cherries made a mockery of their defence to score five times. 

The woeful performance came off the back of Mark Noble’s tweet on Friday night criticising the club for selling young winger Grady Diangana to West Brom for £18m, in which the captain said he was ‘gutted, angry and sad.’ 

West Ham lost 5-3 at home to Bournemouth and fans online sad the team ‘was not trying’

Mark Noble played in the friendly defeat off the back of an angry tweet about a player sale

The loss came after club captain Noble tweeted his anger over the sale of Grady Diangana

It has also emerged that the West Ham board are thought to be ‘unimpressed’ with Noble’s outburst, reports The Athletic, though it is not believed that the 33-year-old will be punished. 

Noble, who has played for the Hammers since 2004, wrote: ‘As captain of this football club I’m gutted, angry and sad that Grady has left, great kid with a great future!!!!!’

The winger played a huge part in Slaven Bilic’s Baggies side last season that earned automatic promotion back to the top-flight.

He made 31 appearances for West Brom last season, scoring eight goals and setting up six more.

Grady Diangana was sold to West Brom on Friday for £18m, which resulted in Noble’s outburst 

The off-pitch drama seemingly impacted performance on the pitch, given Saturday’s display

And ultimately Diangana, 22, has no alternative but to rejoin the former Hammers boss at the Hawthorns after West Ham accepted a bid of £18m which they say will be reinvested into buying new players. 

Other players showed their support for Noble, as Chelsea target Declan Rice liked the captain’s tweet in a show of support as the players showcased their displeasure with Diangana’s sale. 

And though the sale has reportedly brought the current squad closer together, it did not show on the pitch at the London Stadium as their preparations for their season-opener against Newcastle on Saturday suffered a major setback against Bournemouth. 

One supporter tweeted: ‘It’s just comical. I know it’s only a friendly but a bit of effort would help,’ with another saying: ‘There is absolutely no chance they are trying.’

However, manager David Moyes has issued a rallying cry to West Ham fans ahead of the new season, pledging to give them a team they can be proud of. 

West Ham manager David Moyes has vowed to build a team that the fans can be proud of

‘What I’d like is to build. To say to supporters, “I’m going to give you a team to be proud of. Something that is not going to be flaky. Something with consistency,”‘ he told The Times. 

‘The ends [seating areas] have been brought in closer to the pitch at the stadium and I want fans to come back thinking, “We’ve got a team with exciting young talent that every week will give us total commitment.”

‘The model has to change. I want a club that’s looking longer into the future. I don’t want players who turn up at West Ham thinking, “I’m going to put some money in my pocket and have a couple of nice years in London.”‘