West Ham United: Danny Murphy reacts live on talkSPORT as 'massive' Lucas Paqueta injury news emerges
Danny Murphy has reacted live on air as an injury development has emerged on West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Wednesday (10 January, 11:26am), journalist Alex Crook revealed that the Brazilian international faces six to eight weeks out with a calf injury.
Responding to the news, pundit Murphy said it is "massive" for the Hammers as the 26-year-old adds to the growing injury list at the London Stadium.
"West Ham suffered a couple of injury setbacks in recent days," said Crook. "We're hearing Lucas Paqueta could be out for between six to eight weeks. Massive blow for David Moyes because he's such an important player for them."
"That is massive," responded Murphy.
Irreplaceable
This is not the kind of news anyone at West Ham would have wanted to hear as Paqueta looks set to face the best part of the next two months on the sidelines.
It was a ridiculous decision by David Moyes and his coaching staff to play the midfielder in the 1-1 draw against Bristol City on Sunday in the FA Cup as he hobbled off after just 14 minutes.
He had been struggling with an injury prior to that game and even missed the clash against Brighton on 2 January, so it made no sense to take the risk against the Championship side.
There is no hiding from the fact that the Brazilian is simply irreplaceable and there isn't anyone who can come in and provide the creativity that he does.
With Jarrod Bowen out for the next few weeks and Mohammed Kudus at the Africa Cup of Nations, it's hard to imagine how we can win any of our upcoming games.
The likes of Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals can come in and fill a hole, but neither of those two players has been good enough this season, highlighting the lack of quality depth in the squad.