Garth Crooks heaped praise on West Ham defender Pablo Zabaleta for his display against Newcastle United on Saturday.
The BBC pundit shared that the 33-year-old right-back may be close to starting a new career in perhaps television punditry in the near future but that he proved against the Magpies that he was still crucial to the Hammers.
Crooks shared that Zabaleta’s tackle on Salomon Rondon when the Hammers were 1-0 was a turning point in Saturday game as if the forward had scored the Magpies may have got back in the match.
“He may be 33 and coming to a stage in his career where television punditry beckons but he’s still very capable of making the crucial challenge when it matters,” wrote the pundit for BBC Sport.
“The full-back’s tackle on Newcastle’s Solomon Rondon when West Ham were 1-0 up was the turning point in Saturday’s game.
“If Newcastle score it’s a whole new ball game. Instead Zabaleta played a crucial part a rare clean sheet for the Hammers.”
OPINION
The Hammers cruised to a 3-0 victory at St James Park against the Magpies but the first-half of the clash was much closer than the game ended up being. Rafa Benitez’s side had a lot of the ball in the first 45 minutes and probably felt aggrieved to go a goal behind when they did. So it’s understandable why Crooks is raving about Zabaleta as if he hadn’t made an important tackle on Rondon moments after Javier Hernandez put the Hammers 1-0 up, you feel the Magpies may have not slumped to a defeat. While Crooks believes Zabaleta is approaching the stage where a career change is beckoning, it’s hard to imagine him hanging his football boots up anytime soon as he continues to excel in the demanding Premier League. While the player is 33-years-old, his age is irrelevant due to the way he consistently delivers the goods for Manuel Pellegrini side. It’s nice to read Crooks praising Zabaleta, but it’s painful to read that a career change may beckon soon as you can’t imagine the Hammers’ first-team without him as it stands.
