Paul Merson defends West Ham for playing Kurt Zouma
Paul Merson has defended West Ham over their decision to play Kurt Zouma despite his recent problems, saying they didn’t have any choice.
The Hammers opted to start Zouma in defence against Watford in midweek despite the emergence of footage that saw him kick his pet cat.
There has been widespread calls for him to be dropped and even sacked by his club, but Paul Merson wrote in his column for the Daily Star that he believes they did the right thing in playing him having already punished him.
“West Ham did the right thing playing Kurt Zouma even though that video of him made me feel sick,” he wrote.
“The Premier League haven’t banned him. Why should West Ham? Why should they make the rules? I don’t think West Ham had any choice. They have a once in a lifetime opportunity to get in the Champions League and he’s their best defender.
“You can’t punish the club for one man’s stupidity and if you’re David Moyes you have to play him and wait for him to face the consequences.
“If you’re the club, and you’re paying him a fortune, and you need him, and the police have taken no action against him – you need to play him.”
Against the grain
Merson has been known to go against the grain in the past, but on this occasion, it’s hard to disagree with him.
Zouma was undoubtedly wrong in what he did and nobody has condoned his actions in any way, but where does the line get drawn?
The club have fined him the maximum they can and it’s yet to be deemed that he should miss any football by the governing bodies, so why should West Ham harm themselves in the process.
If he does receive a ban from anyone, then it’s highly unlikely that the club would fight it or argue against it so he’d miss any football then.
Emotions are obviously high because of the nature of what Zouma did, but West Ham aren’t the bad guys in this scenario and everyone just needs to take a bit of a step back.
In other West Ham news, Paul Pogba reshares footage of West Ham ace after Thursday development