Lucas Paquetá has always played football on emotion. Flair, risk, intensity, improvisation – it’s all part of what makes him so good. But during West Ham’s defeat to Liverpool on 30 November 2025, something gave way. His red card for dissent in the 84th minute wasn’t just a moment of frustration. It was the clearest sign yet of the mental weight he has been carrying for the past two years.
West Ham were still only 1–0 down at the time and pushing for an equaliser. A foul went against him, he exploded at referee Darren England, and two yellows came within seconds of each other. Paquetá barely reacted as he walked off. He knew exactly what he’d done. Moments later, Liverpool scored again through Cody Gakpo and the game was gone. But the real story came afterwards.
Within hours, Paquetá released two emotional statements aimed directly at the FA. He accused them of providing no psychological support throughout the two-year spot-fixing investigation that overshadowed his career before he was finally cleared earlier this year. He said the ordeal had changed him as a person and that he felt judged for his emotions rather than understood. For once, his frustration wasn’t with teammates, opponents or officials. It was with the system he plays under.
The problem for West Ham is that Paquetá is simultaneously their best player and their most volatile. When he is on the pitch, the team transitions quicker, becomes more unpredictable in attack and is significantly harder to press. When he isn’t, they struggle to build any sort of tempo or control. In a relegation fight, losing him to suspension is a major setback. The club know they can’t afford for this pattern to continue.
Inside West Ham, the conversation now seems to have shifted from discipline to support. Reports suggest the club may finally put a structured psychological support plan in place for Paquetá – something many feel should have been offered during the FA process, not after it. Given his importance, the club can’t simply hope the issue disappears.
What happened against Liverpool wasn’t a random flash of temper. It was the result of accumulated strain: two years of public suspicion, constant scrutiny, pressure to carry a struggling team, and a match slipping away. Some players bury that. Paquetá doesn’t, and that honesty is both his strength and his vulnerability.
The timing is difficult for West Ham. December is historically the part of the season where form swings dramatically. Without Paquetá, their creativity drops, their transitions slow and their ability to control matches falters. With him, they have a player capable of lifting the entire team – but right now he comes with emotional fragility that needs proper management.
When people look back on this moment, they may not see it as a simple red card. It might be remembered as the moment the wider football world finally understood the long-term toll of being investigated and judged before being proven innocent. A cleared case doesn’t erase the psychological damage.
This wasn’t just a meltdown. It was a warning sign. For Paquetá, for West Ham, and for football as a whole.