Cascarino Praises Disasi and Mavropanos in West Ham Games Shift
West Ham games have swung hard on the back of Axel Disasi and Konstantinos Mavropanos, and Tony Cascarino says the centre-back pairing is the biggest surprise at the club. West Ham were the league’s worst defence before Disasi arrived in February, but they have since moved into a far stronger run across ten matches.
Cascarino on Disasi and Mavropanos
Cascarino said he could not believe how well the two have handled the job together. “The big surprise for me; we know [Jarrod] Bowen, [Crysencio] Summerville, [Taty] Castellanos, they’ve all come in and they’re all players that can deliver for them now,” he said. “But the big surprise to me is how well the partnership at the centre-half position; Mavropanos and Disasi, how well they’ve defended.”
That view lines up with what West Ham have shown since February. Disasi made his debut in a 2-0 win at Turf Moor, and the club had conceded 48 goals in its first 24 matches before that point.
West Ham's defensive swing
In ten matches with Disasi partnering Mavropanos in front of Mads Hermansen, West Ham have posted the eighth-best defensive record and collected the seventh-most points. The pair are also developing into West Ham United’s most reliable centre-back partnership since Craig Dawson and Kurt Zouma.
Alan Pardew has already called Disasi a revelation, while Nuno Espirito Santo was said to be really concerned at one point as the defensive issues piled up. The change has been sharp enough to move West Ham from the most porous team in the Premier League to one of the most water-tight teams in the same stretch.
Brentford's front line
That form will be tested this afternoon at the Gtech Community Stadium, where Brentford away is described as one of the tougher challenges in West Ham’s survival fight. West Ham’s last meeting with Brentford came six months ago at the London Stadium on Nuno Espirito Santo’s debut there, and Igor Thiago had plenty of joy against Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo in that match.
Brentford can again lean on Igor Thiago, Kevin Schade and Dango Ouattara, which puts the new West Ham centre-half partnership straight back under pressure. If Disasi and Mavropanos hold their level, the defensive numbers suggest West Ham have a base to build on; if they slip, the old problems return fast.
