David Moyes condemned for attempt to justify Kurt Zouma selection against Watford

Zouma was named in the West Ham side on Tuesday night

CW: Animal cruelty  West Ham United boss David Moyes has been criticised for his decision to include Kurt Zouma in his starting XI on Tuesday night, and his subsequent attempt to justify his selection of the player. Zouma was included in the side dispute videos circulating of him kicking and slapping his pet cat on social media. The defender apologised for his actions before West Ham released a statement condemning his actions. Many expected Moyes to leave the Frenchman out of his squad, however people were left shocked and outraged after Zouma was named in the Hammers side to face Watford on Tuesday night. When asked about the decision to include Zouma, Moyes tried to justify his inclusion by claiming that the defender is one of West Ham's 'better players.' "It's something we're all disappointed with and something we can't understand," he told Match of the Day.

"He'll learn from it [but] today [Tuesday] I had to pick a football team that gave me the best chance of winning the game as manager of West Ham.

"I know how people feel, but I'm also a football manager here.

"My feeling was that Kurt has apologised and I understand a lot of people will not just be accepting of an apology. But to me he came out and [apologised] honestly and I had to do my job."

Many have since called out Moyes for his justification with Football Weekly host Max Rushden tweeting: "Zouma picked because ‘because he is one of our better players’ - Moyes. The little known sliding scale of animal cruelty vs player quality that Moyes has employed. A championship player gets dropped for that. Messi has to go full Joe exotic to end up on the bench."

https://twitter.com/maxrushden/status/1491159400312340480?s=21

Jason Burt of the Telegraph said: "David Moyes telling BT Sport that Zouma is selected because he is one of West Ham's 'better players'? David, you are better than that."

https://twitter.com/JBurtTelegraph/status/1491129675669970944 Supporters also showed their frustration, with one fan tweeting: "Fuckin disgusting decision by Moyes." https://twitter.com/sarajft97/status/1491136857715142656 Another user tweeted: "That’s fucking awful from Moyes and West Ham. I never thought they’d sack Zouma but to start him the very next day is absolutely horrendous." Surrey Police confirmed on Tuesday that they were investigating the incident after the Metropolitan Police released a statement to say they would not open an investigation of their own. Related links:

• Kurt Zouma named in West Ham starting XI despite cat attack video
• Surrey Police launch enquiry into Kurt Zouma cat attack video
• Kurt Zouma issues apology after video of him kicking his cat surfaces online