West Ham ace slowly becoming a fan favourite?

Last week at West Ham was quite the wild rollercoaster ride. There were highs, there were lows, but one of the best highs is the steadily emerging sense of appreciation for our charming Spanish keeper, Adrian San Miguel—who is fast becoming a fan favourite.

We’ve been seeing more and more of Adrian being chosen over Jussi Jaaskelainen, and although he’s been thrown in the deep end for some tough games, he’s been steadily working his way into the hearts of the Hammers—and we’re learning that there are a lot of reasons to love Adrian.

For me, I like the guy. He’s a good goalkeeper, and seems like an all-round good egg. He looks as if he has control over his area, and has made some outstanding saves in recent games. He’s also easy on the eyes (oh shush, I write like a man all the time, let me have a small moment of being female. He’s a good-looking guy.)

I admire that he appears to have a long-term commitment to the club in mind. Case in point –he voluntarily gave up UEFA league football to come join West Ham to sit on the bench as back-up to Jussi. Prior to coming to Upton Park, he played for Real Betis, and after he kept 11 clean sheets, the team qualified for the Europa League. Instead of then playing in the Europa League, Adrian joined West Ham, stating that he was “extremely happy and ecstatic to have joined such a legendary and historical club in both London and in England.” Good lad.

Fortunately, as well as sounding like a nice person, he’s a pretty decent keeper. Yes, he gave away a penalty in his first game. Yes, he let in 11 goals in four days, and normally that’s not the sort of performance that would rally fans in favour of him— but some of the saves he made in the past week were actually incredible, and it was solely down to him that the City score stayed in single digits. On Saturday, the score line was finally more fitting of Adrian’s capabilities, and at the time of writing he is (very deservedly) in this week’s Fantasy Premier League Dream Team as a result of that game. I have some slight worries about shots that slide in just under his elbow, but he’s a good keeper, and has turned out to be a top signing for the Hammers.

He also seems to be a good team player, and cares about his teammates. He regularly tweets amusing photos of him and his teammates, and he was first on the scene to offer assistance at the weekend when Roger Johnson tried to kill Guy Demel.

Apart from his talent, the thing I like and respect most about Adrian is that he’s got heart, and he actually cares about the fans and the club. He understands that the backbone of the club is the fans and is incredibly respectful both to, and about, them.

He’s a great player to follow on twitter, as after each game he either celebrates the victory (in both English and Spanish) or apologises for the loss. He expresses regret, but never gives up on better things to come and either way, he always thanks the fans. Take his tweet on 11^th January – “Spectacular West Ham Fans again, the best of the country!” Lovely, lovely man. Other prominent figures in the club could learn a lot from this man regarding public relations.

At the time of his move to Upton Park, he said that {he was} “really looking forward to starting my relationship with the West Ham fans. From what I have seen, the fans … are very passionate. If I can replicate the same relationship that I had with the Betis fans, I’ll be a very happy person. Come on you Irons!”

He’s a man who certainly seems to stand by his objectives, and has followed through on his goal to build a great relationship with the fans. Adrian, you should be a very happy person indeed. Keep up the good work.