Andy Gray and Richard Keys react to Kurt Zouma withdrawing from West Ham team
Andy Gray and Richard Keys believe it was a ‘strange coincidence’ that Kurt Zouma was withdrawn from the West Ham team to place Leicester before kick-off.
Zouma was named in the starting lineup for the game by David Moyes, only to pull out of the team after the warm-up. West Ham said that he was suffering with illness, and he was replaced by Issa Diop.
But after all the controversy surrounding his inclusion in the team following off-field incidents, Gray and Keys speculated while presenting for BeIN Sports that there could be more to the story than meets the eye.
“Interesting,” Gray said instantly reacting to the news.
“I don’t know. He may well be ill. It could just be one of those strange coincidences that he’s taken ill all of a sudden.
“But it may also be, I don’t know what kind of reception he got when he stepped out on that pitch today from the Leicester fans. I know he got plenty of stick midweek.
“Now if he stepped onto that pitch and he was continually being booed etc then he may have thought to himself, ‘maybe I shouldn’t be here’.”
Keys then added, “Maybe he’s disturbed himself by everything that’s happened with him.”
Pandora’s box
West Ham couldn’t have picked a worse player to fall ill before the game, considering all the coverage around Zouma’s inclusion in the team currently.
The club have stated that they will continue to play him as they are dealing with his issues off the field, but have faced plenty of criticism for their stance.
By naming him in the starting lineup and then seeing him withdraw from the team just before kick-off, they’ve opened themselves up to a whole new line of questioning.
The club will surely stand by their story of sickness, but the rumours will swirl and questions will be asked which will only add fuel to the fire of his role going forward.
West Ham’s season faces being derailed if this lingers on for too long, but without him their top four chances could go up in smoke anyway.
In other West Ham news, Gary Lineker shares instant reaction to big West Ham team news development