West Ham were rocked by a sickness bug ahead of their 5-0 mauling by Fulham that affected ‘several players and staff’… with ‘one midfielder who started the game hit particularly hard’
- West Ham reportedly fell ill and then lost 5-0 to Fulham.
- “A number of players and staff” were injured, including David Moyes and one member of the starting line-up.
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West Ham have been hit by an illness that has swept through the squad ahead of this weekend’s 5-0 thrashing of Fulham, with “a number of players and staff” reportedly affected.
The Hammers were stunned by their London rivals at Craven Cottage, where five different Cottagers scorers – Raul Jimenez, Willian, Tosin Adarabioyo, Harry Wilson and Carlos Vinicius – all fell into the rout.
It was a shock result that followed an impressive run of three wins from four for the Hammers, including a remarkable 2-1 win over Tottenham in the previous game.
Athletic it has now been reported that a number of players and staff fell ill during the build-up to the game.
The report claims that even Moyes himself felt unwell.
West Ham were reported to have come down with illness ahead of their 5-0 thrashing of Fulham.
Manager David Moyes was reported to be feeling unwell as illness took hold of the squad.
One of the players who started the game, Pablo Fornals, was said to be one of the hardest hit.
Other stars hit by the error include midfielder Edson Alvarez and Emerson Palmieri – the former was completely absent from the squad and the latter was named on the bench and came on as a substitute.
Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was also absent but was reported to be suffering from a wrist injury rather than illness.
After the game, Moyes spoke about the illness affecting his players, without specifying how many were affected, admitting it “didn’t help” and also blaming fatigue after a quick recovery from Thursday’s win over Spurs.
Starter Pablo Fornals was reported to be one of the stars struggling the most.
“I am ashamed of the result and the performance and we apologize to the fans,” he said.
“There were a few mitigating circumstances – I think the middle of the week took a huge part of our energy.
“Playing on Thursday and Sunday in two Premier League games compared to playing Fulham on Wednesday and Sunday makes a big, big difference.
“Even mentally, I just felt like Edson was out today due to illness, we had Pablo and Emerson who were both sick yesterday and we weren’t sure how they would feel.”
“We got really sick the last few days at camp and it didn’t help.”