West Ham manager David Moyes opted against starting Kurt Zouma versus Southampton at the weekend, with Craig Dawson keeping his place in the eleven.
However, with the Hammers facing Dinamo Zagreb in their first Europa League group match this Thursday, supporters on Twitter are keen for Zouma to get his first outing:
should’ve started the good vibes against southampton
— Aki (@AkiW_M) September 13, 2021
Get Zouma in for Dawson ASAP.
— Tom ⚒ Jordan (@TomCoyi) September 13, 2021
Please play Zouma ahead of Dawson. Try leave Dawson in Croatia if possible
— Czech Ham United 🇨🇿 (@CzechHam) September 13, 2021
Absolute Unit
— Thom (@OaktreeChampion) September 13, 2021
start Zouma in the next game
— Dara (@wilokiribobo) September 13, 2021
It seems likely that Zouma will come in for the Dinamo game. You don’t spend £26m on a new centre-back just to leave him on the bench, especially when he has so much European experience.
Over the course of his career, the Frenchman has made 22 appearances in the Champions League for Chelsea, as well as appearing in two UEFA Super Cup finals.
With that being said, West Ham did keep a clean sheet at St Mary’s so there will be some that argue that changing the backline could disrupt the team’s organisation.
Moyes will have to deal with these selection dilemmas throughout the season as the Irons juggle their responsibilities between domestic and European fixtures.