Members of West Ham’s first team squad have reportedly “lost confidence” in the ability of deputy goalkeeper Roberto, according to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein.
The Spanish stopper has made high profile mistakes against both Newcastle United and Burnley in consecutive weeks as the Hammers endure a six game winless streak, and it is understood that patience is wearing thin in east London.
Writing in a piece for the Athletic, Ornstein wrote: “Sources disclose that even in pre-season training, Roberto’s level gave cause for concern and, following notable mistakes against Newcastle and Burnley, it is known a number of the first-team players have lost confidence in his ability.”
OPINION
It’s safe to say that Roberto has hardly covered himself in glory during his spell at West Ham so far. He may have averaged 5.3 saves per game in the Premier League thus far, as per Whoscored, but you simply cannot afford to be making the kind of errors that he has over the past fortnight at the very, very top level. First it was Jonjo Shelvey’s 30-yard free-kick that inexplicably found it’s way past him last weekend, and then this time around he flapped at a cross that eventually led to a Burnley corner and the opening goal, before literally punching the ball into his own net for the Clarets’ third. When Lukasz Fabianski was ruled out through injury, there was a feeling that he would be a huge miss, and understandably so, but nobody could have foreseen just how badly his absence would affect the team. Having Roberto in net is obviously not the only factor that has led to this slump, but at the moment, it’s definitely not helping things either.
