West Ham United: Lukasz Fabianski still among elite goalkeepers as stats emerge
Lukasz Fabianski might be 37 years of age but the West Ham United man is still keeping up with the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.
In fact, he is managing to do even better than that as he has been the second-best shot-stopper in the entire division so far this season, according to data collected by John Harrison.
The goalkeeper.com journalist, who has had work published by Sky Sports and The Athletic, compiled data about all 20 first-choice goalkeepers in the Premier League and only one player beat the Pole.
That was Liverpool’s Alisson Becker who had an overall actions-in-goal statistic 4.83 above the league average with Fabianski sat on 4.36 ahead of Everton’s Jordan Pickford.
That number is way above the likes of Hugo Lloris at Tottenham Hotspur, Aaron Ramsdale at Arsenal and David De Gea at Manchester United while Bournemouth’s Mark Travers was on a minus 4.93 score after playing just seven matches.
The Hammers could have been in a much worse position than 16th had it not been for the Polish international’s heroics between the sticks and they have even kept Alphonse Areola out of the side.
He is a World Cup finalist with France but can’t get a game at the London Stadium in the Premier League but David Moyes should not feel forced into dropping somebody in form purely due to his age.
It’s obvious that he is nearer the end of his career than the end but many players have gone on to play into their 40s and even beyond.
The boss only has to look at Jimmy Anderson in the England Cricket Team, still doing the hardest job of all (fast bowling) at 40 years of age and realise that it really is just a number and nothing more.
If he keeps West Ham clean sheets, then he can keep his spot as long as he likes.