Moyes issues demand as Zouma gets West Ham captaincy after cat-kicking charge

15 September 2023 , 21:30

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Moyes issues demand as Zouma gets West Ham captaincy after cat-kicking charge

David Moyes says showing forgiveness can go a long way after confirming that Kurt Zouma is West Ham ’s new captain.

Centre back Zouma is taking the role vacated by Declan Rice less than 18 months after being found guilty of animal abuse for kicking his cat in a video posted on social media.

But West Ham stuck by him despite widespread criticism at the time and, according to Moyes, the Frenchman has shown plenty of gratitude to the club for their backing over his “blip”.

"He's incredibly thankful to the club for their support at the time,” Moyes said. “Lots of people in life make mistakes and sometimes you need people to forgive you. If there was no forgiveness then quite often a lot of us wouldn't be in the jobs or positions that we're in. His character in the main is very good and what I saw was a complete blip in what I see in the man everyday.”

Explaining the reason behind naming Zouma as skipper, Moyes added: “What I noticed is how well respected he is in the dressing room, how well he integrates and he has a great relationship with all the players.

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"He is very professional in the way he goes about his work. Very rarely misses training, puts himself out there regularly and at the moment he is the right person.”

Confidence is high in the East End after West Ham earned 10 points from their opening four games. But on Saturday afternoon Moyes’ side face the daunting task of attempting to beat champions Manchester City for the first time in the league at London Stadium and the Scot admitted it is hard to find a weakness in Pep Guardiola’s team.

“I don’t think there is any manager in the world that could necessarily say they could compete with City,” he said.

“Can we compete with them in one game? Yeah, but how can you do it over a season? They are so good and just won the Treble. We are talking about something that is incredibly special that they have. We must not forget that.”

He is also not surprised that City, who are the only club with a 100% record, have not suffered any hangover from last season’s Treble triumph.

“Sadly it’s what the good teams do. They move from one to the other, they thrive. You’re hoping maybe you can find a weakness in them now again but they’ve been so, so good. How they play, how they attack, there’s so many different elements to their game."

Alan Smith