West Ham winger Mohammed Kudus moment of madness in yesterdays 4-1 defeat against Tottenham, leading to a heated incident understandably too all the headlines from the former Ajax mans performance.
However, the Ghanaian winger had mentally checked out long before the Spurs vs. West Ham clash ended, with him receiving his official marching orders.
Following a goal blitz by Spurs, which culminated in Son’s 60th-minute fourth goal for the home side, Kudus’ demeanour drastically changed. He stopped chasing lost balls, failed to track back on multiple occasions, and appeared like a man who had given up.
Kudus, who had earlier netted the opening goal and left two Spurs players sprawled on the pitch, was arguably the Hammers’ best player for the first sixty minutes of this London derby. The contrast was stark when the drop-off occurred. Gone was the man contesting every ball and physically battling every dribble.
Whilst I won’t pretend that I could foresee his red card coming, it became abundantly clear that Kudus was a frustrated figure who had lost focus and concentration when staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat.
The altercation began when Kudus kicked Micky van de Ven in the back, escalating the situation by shoving the defender in the face. He then turned his attention to Pape Matar Sarr, pushing him in the head, while Richarlison also ended up on the ground after running into the Ghanaian and clashing heads.
The 24-year-old now has a lot of thinking to do as he faces at least three games on the side-lines, with the possibility of an extended suspension. He’s certainly let his teammates down, making the much-needed win against Manchester United much harder to come by without him.
