West Ham have crowned new signing Fabianski as their Hammer of the Year for the past season. Given how influential it has been, it’s a well deserved accolade.
West Ham’s celebration of the season took place last night with only one match left to go. Taking home the biggest prize of the night was Polish keeper Lukas Fabianski, a deserved recipient after a wonderful debut season in Claret and Blue.
With our No.1 also picking up the signing of the season award and, of course, the save of the season award, he’s got to be considered one of the best value buys of the recent years. Not just for the club, but in the league. When players are being valued at astronomical values, the 6m we spent to secure his services from Swansea are nothing compared to his value to the club.
Despite playing an obviously more defensive stance under David Moyes, we struggled to keep teams out. Adrian, whilst a cult legend at the club for his exploits during his last season at the Boleyn, isn’t consistent enough to be a top goalkeeper. Joe Hart could have been the answer, but his mental strength seemed lacking under the strain of being a goalkeeper with a weak defence in front of him. Fabianski has seen the challenge and taken it on.
An incredible stop by @LukaszFabianski! Your Save of the Season 👐 #WHUPlayerAwards pic.twitter.com/gp4M5o8auZ
— West Ham United (@WestHam) May 8, 2019
Even when we’ve been unsettled at the back with rotating centre backs, he has remained strong. Despite a horrendously leaky start to the season, he took what was going to be horrendous and made it mildly respectable. Without him between the sticks I don’t think we’d be in nearly as good a position now, and Pellegrini wouldn’t have the solid base he does for the next year.
He knows he can go away and enjoy the summer, because the No.1 jersey is 100% his on his return. There’s no competition for the position in the squad and we won’t spend to get one in. Enjoy the summer super Fabianski, you’ve deserved your rest.