More questions have been raised over West Ham United’s signing of hapless goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez.
The Spaniard has been an unmitigated disaster for West Ham.
Signed on a free transfer from Espanyol in the summer, Roberto replaced Adrian as back-up to Hammer of the Year Lukasz Fabianski.
Supporters were hoping he would not be required after some alarming performances in pre-season.
But the long-term injury suffered by Fabianski changed all that.
Robert-woe
West Ham have not won since Roberto has taken up the gloves. Eight games and more than two months have passed.
With Roberto in goal the Hammers have plummeted from third in the Premier League to 17th.
The cumbersome ‘keeper has been directly at fault for at least one goal in every single game he has played since Fabianski’s injury.
West Ham fans have dubbed him the worst player in the club’s 125-year history.
Pundits such as Tony Cascarino believe Roberto is the worst goalkeeper in Premier League history (The Times).
Hapless goalkeeper could cost manager and DoF their jobs
The signing of Roberto appears to have caused a rift in the boardroom.
It has been used to question the future of previously hailed director of football Mario Husillos (The Guardian).
One report even suggested the club wanted to sign Roberto as their number one instead of Fabianski last summer, read full story here.
There is a suggestion the goalkeeper is suffering because of a lack of confidence.
But a West Ham fan has posted a video of Roberto in action for Olympiacos five years ago on Twitter.
Roberto video emerges, what were West Ham thinking?
And it shows the stopper up to his usual tricks, which raises further questions over the wisdom of signing him.
In the footage Roberto has the ball at his feet and passes it straight to an opposition attacker inside his own box before allowing the ball to be slotted under him from close range.
It is Keystone Cops stuff. And the video will certainly not help Husillos and Manuel Pellegrini’s case.
You can see the video below, if you can bear to watch.
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