Jermain Defoe and Alan Shearer deliver West Ham verdicts after 'lethargic' Brighton defeat

Former West Ham United striker Jermain Defoe has branded the Hammers’ performance against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday as “lethargic.”

The Hammers slumped to a third straight defeat in as many league games on Sunday as goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Leandro Trossard were enough for Graham Potter’s side to secure a 2-0 victory for the Seagulls at the London Stadium, with a league defeat to Brighton coming just three days after beating Viborg in first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off qualifying tie on Thursday night.

The result means David Moyes’ side are at the foot of the Premier League standings and speaking on the defeat, Defoe, who started his professional career with the Hammers and scored 41 times in 105 appearances between 1999 and 2004, was not impressed by his former side.

“For West Ham, obviously I understand they played on Thursday night, but [it was] a real lethargic performance to be honest,” said Defoe on BBC programme Match of the Day 2.

“You see in this clip here, Brighton are in a good shape. West Ham have got the ball here, for me he (Vladimir Coufal) is still too slow. You have two against one on the right side of the pitch, the full-back (Coufal) has to drop back earlier. You see here the ball comes out to (Kurt) Zouma, can he play to the full-back quicker? Backs out, goes back to the goalkeeper, far too slow, especially being at home.

“The second clip here, you see (Said) Benrahma has got the ball here, three against one, there is nothing on, he ends up crossing into the box, (Michail) Antonio can’t get into the box and the West Ham players are actually in their own half. It’s a real negative, no energy, lethargic performance by West Ham. I was really disappointed in that