With the oldest squad in the Premier League, critics have slammed West Ham for being too immobile, too slow and uncompetitive. Whilst Saturday’s result was about tactics first and personnel second, it is true that many of the recruits to London Stadium this summer have been in their thirties whilst some of the ‘old guard’ near 35.
However, throughout the tactical chaos and the unforgiving nature of the Nottingham Forest game today with the home side driving though onto West Ham’s goal frequently towards the end of the game, there was the oldest player on the pitch, of course a Hammer, still doing his thing and performing pretty well under pressure.
At 39 years old.
Rolling back the years – Lucas Fabianski
Despite letting three goals past him, Lucas Fabianski performed admirably between the posts. Two saves in particular towards the end of the 90 minutes were absolutely top – drawer as the Polish stopper rolled back the years and saved West Ham from suffering a catastrophic four or even five-nil loss.
Considering ‘youngster’ Alphonse Areola – just 31- suffered a recurrence of his back injury that kept him out of the starting line up, Fabianski’s top form is something of a relief.
He gave a frank assessment of the Forest defeat to whufc.com: “It was a really tough afternoon. I think at the start of the game, in general we were in control and there weren’t many chances for either team, but after they scored we crumbled to some extent.”
“It’s just an example of us not managing the game in the right way, and I think we’ve seen that on other occasions this season as well. It’s really disappointing, because we knew coming here that it was going to be a tough match and we weren’t able to keep that control.”
With only Wes Foderingham (the least successful PL goal keeper last year) behind him, ‘Super Fab’ is still vital to the club even after 6 years as a Hammer.
