West Ham atmosphere ‘strange’ after Kurt Zouma selected v Watford
West Ham manager David Moyes made the shock decision to start Kurt Zouma against Watford despite recent controversy surrounding the Frenchman.
The 27-year-old was shown to kick and slap his pet cat in a video on social media and has since been fined by the club and had his pets taken away by the RSPCA.
The Hammers went on to win the game 1-0 thanks to a deflected Jarrod Bowen strike from distance but that was overshadowed by Moyes’ decision.
BBC commentator John Southall was at the London Stadium for the game and revealed what he made of the toxic atmosphere as fans were divided over Zouma’s inclusion.
“It was strange, someone who was working for BBC TV said she found it quite distracting in the first half,” Southall said on the BBC’s Football Daily Podcast.
“Every time that Kurt Zouma got the ball the attention was on him. The first time he touched the ball the booing was mainly from the away end but it seemed like there were boos from all around the stadium”
Leave him out
It was a bewildering decision from Moyes to include Zouma in his side so soon after the video emerged and it still seems a strange decision a day later.
Now the club have taken action against the Frenchman, he may be more likely to be left out in the next few games and it is much needed.
The 27-year-old needs to not only spend some time away from the limelight of the Premier League but serve whatever punishment he is slapped with and educate himself on animal welfare.
The Irons have highly adequate replacements in Issa Diop and Craig Dawson, who probably should have started anyway against the Hornets, so he can afford to miss a few games for this situation to be settled, for the good of everyone involved.
In other West Ham news, a major sponsor of the club has suspended their involvement in the wake of the Zouma incident.