West Ham manager David Moyes has questioned the Football Association’s decision to hand midfielder Manuel Lanzini a two-game ban for simulation, citing a lack of ‘consistency’ over incidents.
Lanzini was banned for ‘successful deception of a match official’ during last Saturday’s 3-0 win at Stoke City, with an independent regulatory panel agreeing that the Argentine had dived to win the penalty that led to the opening goal.
The FA rejected West Ham’s appeal of the ban, making Lanzini the second player to be retrospectively rapped for diving after Everton’s Oumar Niasse.
Manuel Lanzini earned a penalty for West Ham at Stoke City but was later banned for diving
‘I’m disappointed because I don’t see much consistency,’ Moyes told reporters after West Ham’s 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat by Arsenal on Tuesday night.
‘There’s another incident which was turned down. I wonder how they could get to that conclusion where everyone was unanimous on the decision.
‘It sounds as if, I’m not sure even in this room that everybody would be unanimous and that was what was said it had to be.’
Lanzini, 24, missed the quarter-final defeat at Arsenal and is also ruled out of West Ham’s home league game against Newcastle United on Saturday.
Moyes lauded his team’s performance at the Emirates but felt experienced midfielders must be recruited in the January transfer window after 18-year-olds Domingos Quina and Declan Rice were fielded in a much-changed West Ham side.
‘I think we have been making progress and winning games and we’ve been well organised and hard to play against. We showed that again tonight,’ Moyes added.
‘But what we’re seeing as we go along is the next step is adding quality. Tonight we were short on midfield players and generally we’re short in that area and we could do with adding a little more craft.
‘It’s an area we’re short at the moment. But January is never the easiest month to deal with…’