Adrian or Joe Hart?  

Since Adrian arrived from Real Betis a few seasons ago, he has always been one of the few fan favourites with his passion for the club. He has created unbelievable memories for the fans, most notably the winning penalty against Everton in the FA Cup. However, his mistakes have cost himself a position in the side on more than one occasion. Last season, he received competition from Darren Randolph after he made silly errors game after game. He sat on the bench soon after for a long period of time until Darren Randolph made silly errors like Adrian. My concern for Adrian is consistency. Last season he made top class saves as well as this season, but he just cannot show the consistency like other top keepers unfortunately.  

This season he reclaimed his position back into the team after England’s number one Joe Hart had conceded bundles of goals whilst making goalkeeping errors. Now we are in a position where West Ham have conceded 8 goals in the last two games. We have conceded 52 goals all season and have a goal difference of -18. This is unacceptable for a club like West Ham. Surely David Moyes must be working on the defence and goalkeeping in training if we are conceding several goals comfortably each week.  

For me, Adrian should be dropped at least for a couple of games. His decision-making has been one of the factors as to why we have been conceding goals lately. Last week against Liverpool, he should have played better with the first goal from the set piece and the third goal. Recently against Bournemouth last month, his decision-making regarding whether he should rush out or stay in his position cost the team a goal. It’s decisions like these that can cost points, especially in the worrying position we are in.  

Personally, I think Joe Hart will have a point to prove if he got back into the first team. His number one priority would be to play to the best of his ability. He has the world cup starting spot on the back of his mind and I reckon we could potentially see the Joe Hart that we saw making top saves as he did for Man City a few seasons ago. He has had a tough time at West Ham this season, however with a bit of confidence his season can change around, and he can reclaim the number one stop for England. Joe Hart is one of the few leaders we have left in the dressing room. A bit of confidence and I think he can play to the top of his game between now and end of the season.  

With West Ham fighting for relegation and conceding goals for fun lately, a goalkeeper change can make the difference. It has proved well for us not just this season but also last season. Something must change because we still have four out of the top 6 teams left to play and we cannot keep conceding goals, otherwise we will end up in the championship at this rate.  

During the summer transfer window, I think we should sign a goalkeeper that is a number one. Personally, I don’t think Adrian can show consistency for the whole season and this has been proven since he has joined West Ham. Although Joe Harts’ contract is a loan, unless he can perform to his best, I wouldn’t consider signing him permanently until he can prove himself.  

 

Written by Abu, 

(@Asheth16) 

Jon Pope

By Jon Pope

Use to sit in the BML for 10 years, been a West Ham fan all my life, and my great grandfather was a founder member of the TIW. I also help run the Hammer Chat website.

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