There have been a lot of rumours over the past few days, that have only intensified in the past 24 hours, about Diafra Sakho’s absence from the matchday squad against Arsenal and his no show from the West Ham shop at Lakeside during the week.
Sakho reportedly stormed out of training after Slaven Bilic informed him that he wouldn’t be starting against Arsenal on Saturday, but this has been denied over and over by the club.
David Gold tweeted that Sakho “didn’t feel well, should be OK for Wednesday”, and Bilic claimed that Sakho wasn’t quite ready to play after suffering a knock.
There is a good chance that Sakho has reacted badly to the decision and stormed out because of it, but this isn’t what the fans would want to hear. Especially in a crucial week for the club. West Ham have decided to deal with the issue internally rather than hanging the striker out to dry and releasing any information on what the real issue is.
It is difficult to keep anything quiet with social media being as active in football as it currently is, but West Ham have clearly decided they will deal with Sakho and this has been demonstrated by Bilic and Gold. The fact that no other information that has any evidence has been claimed means that it isn’t going to be a massive deal and Sakho will return to the matchday squad sooner rather than later.
West Ham’s admirable treatment of the situation is refreshing. It means that West Ham fans are left not knowing what their striker has done. If Sakho has done something wrong, with football fans being ridiculously fickle, then they would be on his back on social media. This way the only people that know are the ones that are important enough to make the decisions. Sakho will be dealt with, and West Ham fans will welcome him with open arms if his attitude is straightened out.
Something doesn’t quite add up with the Diafra Sakho situation, but for the moment the best thing is to leave it to the club to deal with. Sakho is a great striker and will be an important player for us next season.
If he has made a mistake, which there is no conclusive proof that he has, then West Ham have successfully protected both the player and the fans, meaning redemption isn’t far away.
It could’ve just been a small knock, but if Andy Carroll continues to hassle defences and score goals like he did against Arsenal, Sakho will struggle to get back into the starting eleven for the remainder of the season.
