Written by : @George__Curley
There have been many talked about footballing contests this season in the Premier League, from the best team in the league to the best defender – but one of the most prominent discussions has been about the best goalkeeper. So far this season Łukasz Fabiański has been the best keeper in the league; and here’s why.
It all started when Swansea City got relegated last season. Many good players were there for the taking and our star man was one of them.
We acquired the Polish goalkeeper in the summer for only £7 million, and although the first couple of games this season haven’t screamed class, Fabiański certainly has. From one-on-ones to fingertip saves to comfortable catches, he is, unquestionably, one of the best keepers in this League. When being compared to other shot-stoppers such as Allison and De Gea, the Poland international definitely deserves the praise that he is receiving – in fact, he is arguably one of the best goalkeepers that the Hammers have ever had.
Let’s compare him to Jussi Jaaskelainen, an all-round very reliable keeper who always played his heart out when he wore the Claret and Blue and is capable of pulling out Łukasz-type saves against the opposition. He was known as a ‘no-nonsense’ goalkeeper and he wasn’t afraid of hoofing the ball in difficult situations. He was seen as old-fashioned which worked. With his first season he played for the Hammers he managed to rack-up eleven clean sheets complementing some superb performances.
Another reliable goalkeeper for us was Rob Green, a cemented West Ham player and England international who was extremely comfortable between the sticks for the Hammers. Although he didn’t have the best of starts, he slowly came back to form and subsequently had some very good games for the Hammers. One noticeable one being a game against Arsenal where he pulled off some outstanding saves to keep us in the game. He has, however, had some bad instances in his career – particularly when in an England shirt. The most apparent mishap being the goal scored by Clint Dempsey following a Rob Green mistake; nonetheless he was one of the greats for the hammers.
Now on to a player that is still representing West Ham in the league, Adrián San Miguel. This player has been number one for the Hammers for a couple of years now and the key term to describe him is ‘decent’. He’s not too bad at stopping shots and although he is more likely to save a shot than not, some mistakes made just by himself have cost us in the more recent seasons. He is known as a cult hero purely because of his penalty heroics against Everton in the FA Cup, which is rather ironic considering his job is to stop shots.
Considering all of these number ones we’ve had in our time, Fabiański is definitely one of the best West Ham have acquired and for £7 million he looks a steal. Not only is it the world class saves he pulls off that catches the fans eye, it’s also his general calmness on the ball and how good he is at doing the basics right, someone like Adrián or Green might have had trouble with.