Alphonse Areola has accumulated plenty of critics since arriving at West Ham United, especially in the last few weeks, but Saturday’s 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur saw Guglielmo Vicario enter the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Callum Wilson bundled home the winner in the third minute of stoppage time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And while Spurs’ number one took issue with the nature of West Ham United’s victory, the VAR quickly found in Wilson’s favour. Guglielmo Vicario, under pressure from the veteran striker, flung an arm at Ollie Scarles corner, missed it completely, and was reduced to a rather unedifying attempt to have the goal chalked off for a foul which existed in his mind and his mind alone.
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Earlier in the month, Alphonse Areola gifted Brighton and Hove Albion a point in similar circumstances. Nuno Espirito Santo was ‘disappointed’, and no wonder. One of the Hammers’ best performances on his watch undone as the experienced Frenchman palmed a cross straight at the feet of a grateful Joel Veltman.
But for former Upton Park boss Alan Pardew to suggest that Areola is as much an Achilles heel from set-pieces as Vicario at Tottenham, well, that feels a little harsh.
Alan Pardew questions West Ham United goalkeeper Alphonse Areola
Albeit a few weeks before Veltman was handed a tap-in on a silver platter at the London Stadium, Nuno was singing Alphonse Areola’s praises. For all his faults, and there are many in the 32-year-old’s game, Areola had made a massive impact when it came to improving West Ham’s hitherto-abysmal set-piece record.
While Mads Hermansen tended to stay stock-still on his line – as emphasised by those heavy defeats at the hands of Chelsea, Sunderland and Tottenham – Areola likes to come flying out before punching anything in his path.
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Sometimes the ball, sometimes the face of an opposition player. Morgan Gibbs-White got a ‘whack’ for his troubles before converting a late penalty in Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 win a fortnight ago.
But the point still stands. Areola might have blundered against Brighton and Forest, but the former Real Madrid, Villarreal and Paris Saint-Germain keeper has at least given West Ham some physicality when defending corners and set-pieces. A little bit of added aggression, and someone willing to put themselves in the line of fire.
In a sense, Areola is cut from the same cloth as centre-half Konstantinos Mavropanos. Error-prone and occasionally clumsy, yes, but surely a net-positive in a season where set-pieces are king.
“Everybody just puts [their crosses] under the bar now,” Pardew tells talkSPORT, pinning the blame on Vicario for West Ham’s first away win since August at the City Ground.
“And you know what? I’ve been the centre-half [playing alongside] a goalie who was not great at crosses, who made the wrong decision, flapping at them, you know, missing them, getting himself in the wrong position, not strong enough, etc, etc…
“When you are defending, in that position when there’s all bodies around you, the centre-halves can’t jump properly. You can’t get off the ground.
“So, I don’t blame the centre-backs or any defenders in that situation. That’s a goalie problem, that [Wilson] goal.
“You cannot have a goalie who will not dictate at crosses. You’re asking for trouble. And actually, West Ham have got the same problem. He’s been a brilliant shot-stopper, but he’s very, very, very inconsistent on set-plays and dealing with [crosses].”
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West Ham have already reinforced their frontline with the additions of Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe, even if Nuno needed Wilson to roll back the years on Saturday. Defensive reinforcements are still a must, while a number of goalkeepers have also been linked. From Chelsea’s Filip Jorgensen to Tottenham’s Antonin Kinsky.
West Ham reportedly made a bid for Bento Matheus, Al-Nassr’s Brazil international at the beginning of January.
Unsurprisingly, given his criticism of Areola’s performances, Pardew is backing West Ham’s goalkeeper pursuit.
“I really worry for them defensively,” he said before his old employers picked up successive wins against QPR and Spurs. “I look at the centre-backs. You know, when I talk to West Ham fans who go every week, they’re telling me that there’s a continuing issue in that area.
“That’s the area, and the goalkeeper, the communication between those three.
“Set plays; keep conceding, keep conceding. They look vulnerable. People are bending it under the crossbar on purpose because the keeper is making poor decisions. [Areola] makes unbelievable saves, but there’s stuff about his game at the moment that is fundamentally flawed.”