Jim White and Simon Jordan react after West Ham confirm Angelo Ogbonna ACL injury
Jim White and Simon Jordan have delivered their reaction after West Ham confirmed that Angelo Ogbonna has sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Ogbonna, 33, was substituted in the 22nd-minute of Sunday’s 3-2 win over Liverpool at the London Stadium after failing to run off the discomfort he was feeling.
On Tuesday morning [09/11/21], West Ham confirmed via their official club website that scans had revealed damage to the Italian’s right knee and that he has already begun his recovery programme at Rush Green.
“That’s bad news coming out of West Ham there,” White said on talkSPORT. “West Ham confirmed this morning that Angelo Ogbonna has sustained an anterior cruciate leg injury against Liverpool on Sunday.”
Ex-Crystal Palace chairman replied: “[It’s] bad news for the player obviously because of the nature of recovery that comes from these injuries, but these are the sorts of things West Ham are going to have to run with.
“These are the blows they are going to have to roll with if they are going to keep this form up to be able to achieve an outcome at the end of the season.”
Big blow
Ogbonna has started every Premier League game for the Irons this season, only being afforded a rest in the cup competitions.
He has led the defence in fine fashion while he scored the winner in October’s 1-0 win at Everton. Ogbonna was also heavily involved in Alisson Becker’s own-goal on Sunday to open the scoring against Jurgen Klopp’s side.
But he now looks set to be sidelined for a significant period of time and David Moyes will have to readjust his backline accordingly.
There are two obvious contenders to replace Ogbonna – Craig Dawson and Issa Diop.
Dawson was the one called upon to replace Ogbonna in the first half on Sunday, and thus he looks the most likely to cover him in his absence, especially as he was more favoured than Diop in the league last season, making four more appearances.
Whoever it is will have a big job on their hands to match the feats of Ogbonna, and Kurt Zouma will be expected to step up and show even greater authority in the centre of defence.
In other West Ham news, Darren Gough predicts the Irons to make a major move in the January transfer window to sign this player.
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