Many West Ham United fans were left questioning what Ryan Fredericks must have done wrong after Manuel Pellegrini opted against starting the right-back at home to Newcastle on Saturday.
Fredericks had begun each of the Irons’ opening nine Premier League fixtures, but fell to the bench against Sheffield United last week and remained on the back-up list for the visit of the Magpies.
Some Hammers fans could not understand why Pellegrini favoured Pablo Zabaleta over the 27-year-old, though, with one suggesting there must be an agenda against Fredericks, while many simply questioned the Argentine’s decision not to play the 5 foot 11 defender.
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Fredericks had averaged 2.8 successful tackles per ninety minutes from 4.1 attempts in his nine top-flight appearances of the term before falling to the bench, along with recording 1.0 interceptions, 0.9 blocks and 1.0 key balls, per WhoScored data.
Zabaleta, meanwhile, did not register a successful tackle against Sheffield United until the 90th-minute last week, in a performance also encompassing three interceptions, two clearances and one key pass.
So when West Ham announced that Zabaleta would be starting instead of Fredericks against Newcastle, these were some of the reactions offered…
