West Ham in a tricky situation. Can’t afford to punish Zouma, can blame zero activity on the transfer window

On Monday, a video of him kicking cats flew around the internet, the day after he started in the starting lineup against Watford. The case of Kurt Zouma and West Ham’s approach is a very controversial topic, but the incident needs to be looked at from the club’s perspective.

The first reports of Zouma abusing his cats emerged on Monday. The video quickly went viral on social media, with users around the world going on a rampage. No one expected the French stopper to play in Tuesday’s game.

But when a graphic of the starting lineup appeared on West Ham’s Facebook page at 19:45 Czech time on Tuesday, Zouma was in it. At first glance, absolutely shocking information, but upon reflection, the move by coach David Moyes can be understood.

West Ham currently have stopper Angel Ogbonna injured, got rid of Pablo Hernandez before the season and the coaching staff currently have only three healthy central defenders at their disposal. In addition to Zouma, Craig Dawson and Issa Diop.

Dawson has been the mainstay of the team for the second season, but Diop makes frequent mistakes and is no longer at the highest English level. Moreover, he gave a terrible performance in the weekend’s FA Cup match against Kidderminster and the six-league side were not far from a historic promotion.

So Zouma is now benefiting from the fact that the Hammers management did not bring in a single reinforcement in the winter. Mainly because of this, he only received a financial penalty from the club, even though the fans were vocal in suggesting his sacking.

The French stopper despite remaining in the West Ham squad has been punished multiple times. Adidas terminated his contract, his cats were handed over to a shelter and Zouma even faces four years in prison.

Source: Premier League