Areola and France- Goalkeeper’s Back Injury

In case you missed it, Alphonse Areola sustained a damaged back against Manchester City at the weekend and was substituted for the second half. With Fabianski and then just Wes Foderingham as back-up, I certainly was getting a little nervous about Hammers’ goalkeeping options.

Fortunately for us the international break seemed to come at just the right time in that respect as it meant Alphonse could undergo some rehab.

In fact it is clear that Areola’s injury wasn’t as bad as we’d feared. It seems there’s no immediate concern about Wes being on the bench any time soon (We all have our recurring ‘Roberto’ and David Martin nightmares  and we’d rather not have to call on Wes who I am sure would do us proud if required).

Daily Mail journalist Kathryn Batte reported to that effect via her x/twitter account: “Alphonse Areola has travelled to meet up with the France squad. Goalkeeper came off at HT with a back problem during West Ham’s defeat by Man City on Saturday. But injury assessed as not serious.”

Good news after the which was, presumably, ‘precautionary’.

What is concerning is Areola’s apparent injury-prone nature. This is, to my memory, the fourth time he has been substituted mid-match. Never known a Hammers goal keeper need to be substituted so many times. Clearly he either needs to work on fitness or he’s the most unlucky we’ve ever had.  Something will need to change, Fabianski, good as he is, is nearly 40- if Areola has an underlying issue holding back his regular first-team appearence then West Ham will need to address it before ‘Fab’ decides to leave or declines in performance.

Last years’ 70- plus goals conceded should never be repeated by West Ham and the amounts spent on bolstering the defence mean we need our stopper to step up. Hopefully it is just a run of bad luck and our concerns are misplaced.

Alphonse is one of three goalkeepers in the squad for the French national side in their tough matches coming up later today against Italy followed by Belgium three days later. We’d like to think he will have a nice relaxing time in a comfy, heated seat on the bench and come back rested for next weekends clash against Fulham.