Gary Lineker was left stunned on social media following West Ham’s decision to start Kurt Zouma in last night’s match against Watford.
Taking to Twitter, the Match of the Day pundit expressed his disgust at the Irons opting to start the French international just hours after shocking footage emerged of Zouma abusing his cat.
Whilst the centre-back has since apologised for his awful behaviour, many West Ham fans and neutrals were expecting Zouma to be dropped from the squad following this astonishing incident.
However, David Moyes made the stunning decision to start Zouma despite the controversy surrounding the player, with the defender keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win against the Hornets.
The choice was met with fury on social media, with Lineker this morning tweeting: “Shocked and appalled that West Ham played Zouma last night. A tone-deaf decision.”
With Moyes offering a more than questionable reasoning for starting Zouma as per BBC Sport, West Ham will no doubt be subject to more criticism from pundits and figures in football after what happened last night.
Lineker is right to slam West Ham for Zouma selection
It goes without saying that what Zouma has done is nothing short of inhumane and disgusting, and Lineker’s criticism of West Ham to start the defender hits the nail on the head.
Whilst one could, bravely, argue that Moyes had a reason to start his key centre-back in a must-win game, some things in football are bigger than the sport itself.
West Ham had an opportunity to send a big message that animal cruelty won’t be tolerated by any of their playing staff. But instead, the Hammers bottled it, and have now caused more problems for themselves.
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