We just witnessed one of the worst displays of defending in one half of soccer we have seen this season in the Premier League. After going up 2-0 after just 10 minutes, Eliaquim Mangala, Manchester City’s 32 million Euro central defender, single handedly allowed Hull City back into the match. First in the 20th minute, off a Hull City cross into the box, Mangala failed to position his body correctly to head the ball out of the area and instead sent it right into the back of his own net.

Because Mangala clearly believes two wrongs make a right, in the 30th minute, as Abel Hernandez attempted to receive a pass in the box, Mangala stuck his foot into the chest of Hernandez, making it an easy penalty decision for the referee. Hernandez, Hull City’s big signing of the transfer window, put the penalty past Man City keeper Willy Caballero to tie the game at 2-2.

Manchester City, who was clearly the better side in this match, would in the end win the game 4-2, but the first half defending by Eliaquim Mangala was simply horrendous.

While one player showed us exactly how not to defend, up in Manchester, against Manchester United, West Ham United defender Winston Reid showed us the correct way to play central defense. No, West Ham was not able to defeat a 10-man Manchester United on the road at Old Trafford, but over the first several weeks of the EPL season, Reid, a native of New Zealand, has proven to be one of the league’s top defenders.

Today against Man U, Reid had 6 successful clearances, a blocked shot at the top of the box and was consistently in the right place against the attacking stars of Manchester United. To be completely honest, Reid was a not at his best in the first half, but was much better in the second and without his key defending, United may have scored more and put the match out of West Ham’s reach.

Today’s performance against United was good, but Reid’s play last week against Liverpool was superb.

Reid scored in the second minute of the match, some may say West Ham scored too early, but when you have a central defender of his quality, scoring so early isn’t such a bad thing. Reid was brilliant in defense the rest of the match and had 10 clearances against Liverpool, six from inside the box while Liverpool threatened to score.

Reid has yet to commit a single error this season that has led to a goal for the opposition. No, he is not a perfect defender, but on a day when bad defending was as poor as I’ve seen it all season, Reid has been a breath of fresh air for a club who will need strong defending if they hope to stay out of the relegation zone as the season progresses.