Former Premier League winner Ray Parlour has fired both barrels in a spectacular attack on West Ham United goalkeeper Roberto.
The Spaniard was finally dropped by Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini for Saturday’s 1-0 win over Chelsea, and Parlour believes it was a change that was a long time coming.
“Massive change in goal – I said that three or four games ago West Ham have got to change their goalkeeper,” he said on talkSPORT [04/12; 06:12]. “He’s not good enough, he really isn’t.
“I saw the Spurs game, where he conceded a couple of really poor goals – the first one, with Son, where it went across him. So they’ve changed it, and it was great to see Alvin Martin’s son come in.”
OPINION
It seems that even out of the starting line-up, Roberto cannot escape vociferous criticism from pundits and fans alike. But you can’t blame Parlour for these comments, because he’s absolutely spot on. There’s no doubt at this point that the Spaniard isn’t good enough to man the sticks for a team like West Ham. He’s not a starting calibre ‘keeper in the Premier League, and has perhaps demonstrated that he’s not got the reliability of a quality back-up either. It was amazing to see the difference in the Hammers team with David Martin in goal to how they played when Roberto manned the sticks. Everybody in a claret and blue shirt seemed so much freer, so much more assured in what they were doing with the Englishman behind them. And Martin himself produced a terrific performance at Stamford Bridge. He commanded his penalty area with aplomb, while he made a couple of important saves as well. There’s surely no way Roberto comes back into the team for a long time now.