Alphonse Areola should start instead of Lukasz Fabianski for West Ham against Southampton today.
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That’s not a dig at Lukasz Fabianski. The experienced Pole has been a very good goalkeeper for the Hammers over the past three years.
At 36, however, Fab is now in the twilight years of his career. He has clearly regressed since suffering a couple of serious injuries over the past 18 months.
And his kicking is now very suspect.
Fabianski hasn’t made any glaring errors during West Ham’s first three Premier League games but he certainly could have done better with Newcastle’s second goal on the opening day and Crystal Palace’s first goal two weeks ago.
So David Moyes has a big call to make for this afternoon’s clash with Southampton.
Alphonse Areola should start instead of Lukasz Fabianski
The towering goalkeeper has had to bide his time since moving to the London Stadium from Paris Saint-Germain in August. Now is his time to shine, however.
Areola, 28, is bigger than Fabianski, is more agile and is far more comfortable with the ball at his feet. That could be crucial considering the way in which Southampton press aggressively high up the pitch.
The three-capped France international, who is said to earn around £75k-a-week (Claret and Hugh) is commanding in the air and is a superb shot-stopper.
He is quite simply a better goalkeeper than Fabianski.
Here’s what West Ham fans can expect from Areola:
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We think that Areola should start against the Saints today and the West Ham fans will be eagerly awaiting the announcement of David Moyes’s team-sheet at 2pm.