David Moyes blocked Josh Cullen’s loan move to Bolton Wanderers in January, but why keep him to sit on the bench for West Ham United?
West Ham United midfielder Josh Cullen was once again resigned to the bench during Swansea City’s emphatic 4-1 victory over the Hammers at the Liberty Stadium.
As a result, Moyes’ men dropped to 14th place and will be without their star defender Winston Reid for quite some time, as the New Zealander picked up a nasty injury midway through the first half.
On Saturday, Reid was substituted by Sam Byram; a decision blasted by the fans, many of whom cried out to send the likes of Cheikhou Kouyate to deputise at centre-half, to allow Cullen to be added to the fray in the middle of the park, where the Hammers have lacked quality.
Cullen, 21, who was due to be sent back out on loan to Bolton Wanderers where he had enjoyed a decent first half to the season, had his deal blocked as David Moyes indicated he wished to retain the youngster for his own squad.
Since that decision, however, Cullen is yet to play in the Premier League, with his only three Hammers appearances this season coming earlier on in the FA Cup.
Cullen himself must be slightly bemused as to why his manager opted to block his loan, considering he has barely featured since January, even as a substitute, and would have surely preferred to have stuck at it with Bolton for the entire season.
Nevertheless, in typical fashion, many West Ham supporters took to Twitter to voice their annoyance over the continued decision to omit Cullen from the team, especially after denying him the chance to continue his development on loan in January.
Some highlighted the form of West Ham’s central midfielders as the main reason for the team’s poor performances, calling for Cullen to get a chance and for players such as Kouyate to be dropped.
Here is a brief round up of the reaction:
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