West Ham United need Roberto almost as much as he needs them

West Ham United and Roberto Jimenez share a similar outlook on life that might not have been needed before but it sure does now.

When people talk about worst-case scenarios, they usually don’t expect them to happen. On Saturday afternoon at Bournemouth, it happened for West Ham United in the most unfortunate way. Lukasz Fabianski, the Hammer’s workhorse keeper went out with an apparent hip injury.

Up steps Roberto Jimenez, the 33-year-old, first-year player that has questions marks that stream as long as the Thames itself. Only playing 2 times previously this season, both in Carabao Cup matches, and the most recent time being a match that he gave up 4 goals, you had to think his confidence was low.

To quickly recap the match, it was a bit like watching a foal run for the first time. Clumsy as first with no reaction yet slowly getting the hang of it and eventually learning the ropes. In all seriousness, no hard feelings for the man who saved West Ham from dropping even more points.

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To further piece that analogy together, you could tell that he, Roberto, was rusty. His passing out of the goal was horrific at first but then got better. His reaction time went from nonexistent to getting in the right place to at least make a block. And slowly but surely, you could see the confidence slowly sneak back in.

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Remember back when I said he helped West Ham finish out the match with a draw? Believe it or not but its true. Furthermore, his two key saves in less than 10 minutes’ time from English international Callum Wilson helped turn the tide that almost immediately led to Cresswell’s goal that tied it up.

To answer the statement from the title is a simple one. West Ham United need Roberto and why? The Hammers are running high on form at the moment and are currently sitting in a Champions League spot a confident keeper is a must.

As for Roberto, he also needs the club. You could tell he was rusty from the start but as the match grew, so did he. Backup keepers must always be ready but when you are the backup to a keeper that hasn’t sat out an EPL match since he joined the club, your mind might not be at 100%.

However, the facts are this, Fabs is out for a few weeks and Roberto is his backup. As he gets more reps in practice and his confidence grows hopefully his mind will slowly erase the 0-4 loss last week.

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As his confidence grows, so to should the West Ham fandom and get behind the man between the pipes and when Palace comes to town this weekend Hammers fans should all be confident in the starting XI that Pellegrini puts on the pitch, to include Roberto.