Pablo Zabaleta looked out of his depth once again as Everton thrashed West Ham 4-0 at Goodison Park on Wednesday.
If West Ham had managed to sign Pablo Zabaleta on a free at almost any other time over the last six or seven years, the deal would have been one of the most impressive in all of England.
But, as Hammers fans are discovering rather quickly, the two-time Premier League champion is well past his best at the age of 32. There’s a reason Manchester City released him after ten years of loyal service at the end of last season after all.
And Zabaleta’s dismal display in Wednesday’s humiliating 4-0 defeat away to fellow strugglers Everton was just the latest in a series of hugely disappointing performances from one of the best defenders the Premier League has seen in the last decade.
The Argentine was hugely fortunate not to be sent off for a lunging first-half tackle seconds after he picked up a yellow card. But some West Ham fans would not have been too disappointed to see Zabaleta sent for an early bath if they could predict the embarrassment that was yet to come.
A Wayne Rooney hat-trick and an Ashley Williams strike consigned a disastrous West Ham side to their second defeat in three games under David Moyes.
And, though he didn’t receive too much support from the error-prone defensive partnership of Winston Reid and Angelo Ogbonna, Zabaleta’s latest performance only adds to the feeling that his time at the top level is over.
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