West Ham United have become defensively stronger with under the radar Alphonse Areola
West Ham United have started the season incredibly, sitting 4th and unbeaten in the Premier League and part of that is down to the incredible form of Alphonse Areola.
The Frenchman has had to wait for his chance at the London Stadium, having joined the Hammers on an initial loan deal in 2021, before making the switch permanent in 2022, this season has finally seen him earn the number one shirt in David Moyes’ side.
In the opening four games of the season, the Hammers have only conceded four goals, with one coming in each match, but while the 30-year-old is yet to register his first clean sheet of the campaign, he has barely put a foot out of line.
Last season, Areola only managed five Premier League appearances, conceding seven goals but his performances were admittedly hard to judge with four of the five matches coming against sides that would go on to finish in the European places last year.
His Sofascore average rating for the campaign was 6.52, whereas this year he currently sits at an average of 7.53, a higher rating than Liverpool keeper Alisson and Manchester City stopper Ederson and his good form has given Moyes’ defence a steady presence to defend ahead of.
Lukasz Fabianski was the man to keep Areola from starting consistently last season with the Polish stopper starting 36 matches of the Premier League campaign and he had a steady campaign, averaging a 6.86 rating and three saves a game at a 69% success rate (Sofascore).
Areola has bettered that so far this season, saving 80% of the on-target shots he has faced this campaign and making an average of four stops per match, an ever-so-slight boost on his record of Fabianski.
Like a new signing
Areola helped his record with his penalty save from Enzo Fernandez in the Hammers’s 3-1 win over Chelsea, but that sort of game-changing goalkeeping is what West Ham need to continue their good start to the season and climb up the league.
Fabianksi may not be happy with his relegation to the second choice keeper but Moyes views Aerola as the future and a step forward [Evening Standard, 18 August] and so far this season the Frenchman has proved to be exactly that.
Plenty of other players at the London Stadium have been in excellent form for the Irons in the early stages of the campaign, but the 30-year-old’s impact between the posts has not been too different to that of a new signing as he has provided a level of assuredness at the back Fabianski didn’t quite possess last year.
Hopefully, he can stay fit and carry on his excellent start to the campaign for the remainder of the season as currently there are few better keepers in the division than Areola.
In other West Ham news, one Hammers defender has been offered 10x his wages to move to Saudi Arabia