West Ham latest news: David Moyes 'sent out poor message' by picking Kurt Zouma against Watford

Journalist Pete O’Rourke thinks West Ham were wrong to play Kurt Zouma against Watford on Tuesday night.

The 27-year-old has been in the headlines after a shocking video emerged of him kicking his cat around his house on Monday evening, but he was still selected in West Ham’s starting XI for their latest top-flight fixture.

Zouma has been widely condemned for his actions, and it was revealed on Wednesday afternoon that his cats had been seized from him by the RSPCA.

Furthermore, West Ham confirmed within minutes that the player had been “fined the maximum amount possible” by the club.

However, less than 24 hours earlier, Irons boss David Moyes did decide to start Zouma in his side’s 1-0 win over Watford at the London Stadium.

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O’Rourke believes that it was an error of judgement on the club’s part to allow Zouma to play, and has suggested that they should have figured out how to punish the France international before giving him minutes on the pitch.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “West Ham sent out a poor message last night by selecting him. Maybe they should have left him out for a couple of matches, fined him, punished him in some respects for what he did.”

It would appear that this case is far from closed.

Having criticised Zouma’s behaviour and fined the player, West Ham noted in their club statement that they intend to “allow the RSPCA to conduct their investigation in a fair and thorough manner, and will be making no further comment at this stage.”

However, the club are still in the spotlight themselves after it was announced that one of their sponsors, Vitality, have opted to suspend their working relationship with West Ham for the time being.

Meanwh