MY ACCOUNT
West Ham boss David Moyes says he hopes the actions of defender Kurt Zouma don’t serve to “blight” the “good things” being done on and off the pitch at the London club.
French defender Zouma attracted consternation from across the game after a disturbing video of him kicking and slapping his pet cat emerged last week. The RSPCA have since taken Zouma’s animals into care, and Zouma was fined the “maximum amount possible” by West Ham.
Despite describing his player’s actions as “terrible” and “diabolical”, Moyes attracted widespread criticism for choosing to start Zouma in a 1-0 win over Watford, and the defender was in line to start again at Leicester City, before withdrawing from the line-up through illness.
The West Ham boss now said the incident should not detract from either the club’s good work in the community or the team’s promising season on the pitch.
“We should not allow this to blight anything which has gone on before,” Moyes told Sky Sports in the aftermath of the Hammers’ 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium.
“A player has made a mistake, and there are plenty of managers with players who have made mistakes.
“Somewhere along the line you always hope there is a little bit of forgiveness, people are willing to accept they made a mistake, [they have] given an apology and we hope that is the case.
When asked about Zouma’s condition, Moyes responded: “He was ill before the game, he wanted to play, we wanted him to play as well.”
Moyes oversaw a sixth-placed Premier League finish last season, and the London outfit are once again contending for a European qualification spot, retaining fourth place in the table after Craig Dawson’s late equaliser.
The former Manchester United boss was keen to draw a line under a controversial week and to highlight the positive changes that the club has made recently, both on and off the pitch.
“I hope that we have changed how West Ham is perceived, but more importantly how it is perceived on the pitch,” Moyes said. “We have a good, exciting young team that we are trying to make better and grow.
“Off the field West Ham have improved greatly as well, done great work round the East End of London, we have loads of new young supporters coming to West Ham, and a lot of good things are being done.”
