David Moyes sends very clear message to West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola with honest admission
David Moyes has sent a very clear message to West Ham United goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
Alphonse Areola was chosen to start in goal for West Ham by David Moyes, ahead of Lukasz Fabianski yesterday afternoon against Bournemouth.
The 30-year-old Hammers stopper has had to be incredibly patient since moving to the London Stadium in the summer of 2021.
He’s had to make do with cup games here and there, but it now seems like he’s the club’s new number one.
That clearly doesn’t come with any guarantees though…
David Moyes sends clear message to West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola
The Scot clearly doesn’t believe that Areola can coast as the Hammers’ number one goalkeeper now, with Fabianski breathing down his neck.
Moyes spoke to reporters about the goalkeeping situation at West Ham and admitted that any slip-ups from the Frenchman could result in Fab being brought back into the team, as quoted by WHUFC.com:
“Łukasz Fabiański has been sensational for us in the time I’ve been here. The way he goes about his job is tremendous and everything he does is very, very good. But the decision, on this occasion, was to give Alphonse the chance to stake a claim to the No1. If you don’t play well, then you’ve got somebody else breathing down your neck.”
That’s hardly what Areola will want to hear is it!
Don’t get me wrong, competition for places in any position is healthy. However, I feel like the former PSG man would really benefit from a shoot of confidence, and his manager suggesting that he’ll be dropped if he doesn’t perform certainly won’t give him that.
Alphonse Areola was really shaky at times for West Ham last season, but what can you expect when he’s playing once every few weeks? And let’s not forget, he made some stunning saves for us in the Europa Conference League.
He needs a solid run of games now in my opinion, without the threat of being dropped, in order to find a rhythm and a certain kind of consistency.
Hopefully Moyes isn’t too quick to jump the gun if the 30-year-old makes the odd mistake over the next month or so.
