It is strange how one event can trigger another and so on at a football club, there are few places in the World of Sport stranger than the Premier League, so the shenanigans going on at West Ham during the last week or so will come as no surprise to some observers.
The now infamous Zoumagate affair shone a not too decent light on West Ham as a football club and an even worse light on Kurt Zouma who, quite rightly, has come in for a lot of flack, however the surging indignation eventually grew out of all proportion to a ludicrous level.
One element that WAS positive is how the much maligned Issa Diop's performance against Leicester by fans, pundits AND most importantly his manager! Moyes' post match comments at the King Power alluded to as much, he said: “We like Issa, we really do. We think Issa has, I was going to say potential, but we feel because he has been here that long we feel his potential should be out and he should be showing it and maturing with it. He has a lot of good attributes and I am pleased he did play well, he had a good game and I could not turn around and fault him too much on anything he did.”
While the manager's praise might not seem to have been overly enthusiastic, it was actually a gushing endorsement of the 6'4" centre back in 'Moyes speak'. There are rumours PSG are interested in acquiring Diop, as well as the inevitable Newcastle interest blah, blah, blah!
Diop's contract enters its final year in June, the club do have an option to extend and it is believed they will DEFINITELY do so rather than risk losing a player they paid over £24 Million to Toulouse for, he will only get better having hit rock bottom against Kidderminster, the club would regret selling him as he still has ALL the attributes to being a great player for years to come.
Zoumagate focused the keyboard warriors attention away from Diop, it seems the witch hunt is finally over, and not a second too soon, why fans run down their OWN players so much is bewildering at times, but is is nothing new! - ED
Comments
One man's meat.....
I have been critical of Issa Diop's performances on occasions this season, but I have no vendetta against him. Issa does seem to be the type of player who needs to be loved and needs an arm around him. Nothing would please me more than for him to become an undroppable player for us.
Whether it is to keep, sell a player or team selection, I have always backed Moyes's decision making because he has earned that right.
Equally, most supporters have their favourite players that they rate as well as the players that they don't rate. It's all good to me as long as the criticism doesn't get personal, sustained or to the detriment of the team.
Welcome back Issa, we need you.
Never rated him
And one decent game against Leicester isn't going to change my mind. Just like James Tomkins, he's an accident waiting to happen.
Diop was rock solid at the
Diop was rock solid at the start of his career at West Ham. No wonder that the Special One came sniffing for his signature. Remember that Ogbonna was even sidelined on the subs benches then as Balbuena was selected ahead of him. But injuries affected all of them and I thought that although Diop was terrible at Kidderminster he really picked up his game at Leicester. So give him a bit more of game time to get into his stride.
With Ogbonna in the latter
With Ogbonna in the latter part of his career we would be mad to let Issa leave. His performances thus far have been underwhelming for majority of fans but some players take a little longer to grow into a role. With two excellent role models to follow he could easily become undroppable with a little more time
Fact of the matter is. He's
Fact of the matter is. He's going nowhere at least until the end of the season. So it's up to him now to put in the performances, If he enhances his standing here then great. If not get rid, but he needs a run of games until May!!