Fight For The Net: Adrian or Fabianski for West Ham

The Premier League season is just days away and if West Ham’s pre-season tour has shown us anything it is that there will be lots of battles for positions.

For the position of keeper, this rings true with both veteran Adrian and newcomer Lukasz Fabianski vying for the starting role. So, how do the two keepers stack up, and who should win the job? Will West Ham see a familiar face in goal, or a man rated higher than his previous team?

Adrian

2017/18 Stats:

• 22 games (all competitions)
• 31 goals against
• 6 Premier League clean sheets, 2 in EFL Cup (16th in PL)
• 69 saves (15th in PL)

If the stats show anything it is that Adrian had a below average season in 2017/18. He lost the net in the preseason with the marquee loan signing of Joe Hart from Manchester City and was relegated to backup and Cup keeper.

With Hart’s poor performances under both Slaven Bilic and David Moyes, all it took was a solid start for Adrian against Manchester City to earn him a string of 15 games as the starting keeper. Adrian would lose the net again in March for five games, winning it back more on more of Hart’s poor performances than anything positive Adrian was doing.

This tumultuous season came a year after a similar storyline with Darren Randolph. Adrian started the season as the first-choice keeper but lost it again for an extended portion of the season only to eventually take up the starter reigns again at the end of the 2016/17 season.

West Ham supporters’ cult love for Adrain is rooted in two main events – the farewell season at the Boleyn Ground, and his shootout goal against Everton in the FA Cup to send West Ham on to the fourth round. Despite these fond memories, it seems that Adrian’s time with West Ham will be up after this season with his contract expiring. So should he start?

He has had a strong preseason and has looked sharp in the games he has started; he has done everything in his power (including another shootout goal) to impress new manager Pellegrini in his bid to start in goal.

Lukasz Fabianski

2017/18 Stats:

• 38 games played
• 9 PL clean sheets
• 56 goals against
• 137 saves (2nd in PL)

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With Joe Hart’s horror loan spell with West Ham expiring with the 2017/18 season, Pellegrini was in search of a new keeper. Fabianski was signed for a fee around £7million from relegated Swansea City in a move that emphasized the desire for proven talent over up-and-comer status players.

And experience Pellegrini did get with Fabianski. Formerly of Arsenal, proven at Swansea, and now looking for some sustained success at West Ham. The Polish international also represented his home nation in the 2018 World Cup, playing in one game which he posted a 1-0 clean sheet against Japan with three saves.

Fabianski’s stats show that he is an elite shot-stopper, although he has Swansea City’s shoddy defense to blame for so many attempts against. With his form staying sharp the two years he has on Adrian doesn’t seem to be much of determining factor in the battle for the net.

Fabianski returned to West Ham after an extended holiday following the World Cup. In preseason he played two games, allowed just one goal in two matches (Ipswitch and Angers SCO). His form looks on point to start the season and has just as good a chance as Adrian to take the net for the opening game.

Final Word

So, who will it come down to as the starting keeper in Pellegrini’s first official line up? To me, it has to be Fabianski. He was bought for a reason and has two more seasons after this one on his contract, opposed to Adrian who expires after this season. Adrian has done just as much to lose the net as he has done positively to win it back in his last two seasons.

Sure, Adrian has seen a lot of the net in preseason action but would that have been the case if Fabianski hadn’t have been in Russia? It’s extremely close between these two keepers for the starting role, however, the sage wisdom Pellegrini possesses has me more than comfortable in the decision he will make.