Olympiacos shocker proved how much West Ham miss ‘incredible’ 29-yo when he doesn’t play

The way West Ham United lost to Olympiacos served as a harsh wake-up call for the team as a whole and a poignant reminder of how much we miss one specific individual.

Thursday night’s 2-1 Europa League victory over West Ham by Olympiacos was truly a dismal performance by all.

Although he was somewhat to fault, Hammers manager David Moyes would have been incensed by his team’s performance on Thursday night.

We suffered as a result of his extremely poor team selection, which was far too weak for a difficult away Europa League match.

Among the players who did not play in the game was Kurt Zouma, and it was painfully evident how much we missed the 29-year-old.

The Frenchman, who paid almost £30 million to join West Ham from Chelsea in the summer of 2021 (Daily Mail), has since established himself as an essential member of Moyes’ squad.

This season, he was named club captain, and it appears that the extra accountability has taken him to a whole new level.

But what worries us is how much we missed him on Thursday night, and Moyes needs to address this right away.

The shocking win against Olympiacos demonstrated how much West Ham misses the 29-year-old when he’s not playing.

When Zouma was a player at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s own website called him a “incredible” defender, and they weren’t incorrect.

This season, the 6′ 3in giant has been the Hammers’ rock in the back. We really missed him on Thursday; he is a leader in every way.

The fact that Zouma is getting close to 29 and is extremely prone to injuries worries Moyes.

In light of this, the Scot needs to find a younger center defender to cover for the former Chelsea player.

The Hammers would be better off with someone like Odilon Kossounou, the star player for Bayer Leverkusen, but he won’t be cheap.

The problem is that replacing Zouma will be costly. Will his knee hold up for the remaining five or six years that he has left to play at the best level? It’s unclear to me.

The fact that Kurt is our main source of support was made very clear to Moyes and the club’s owners on Thursday night when West Ham lost to Olympiacos. And going forward, it has to alter.