Moyes lauds Hammers goalkeeper Fabianski
David Moyes has hailed the role played by Lukasz Fabianski in West Ham’s charge towards the Champions League.
Poland goalkeeper Fabianski last week signed a new contract to keep him at the London Stadium until next summer.
Today, the 35-year-old faces former club Arsenal, whose fans dubbed him “Flappyhandski” following some shaky performances early in his career.
But Fabianski has put those unconvincing days firmly behind him to become the Hammers’ undisputed number one.
West Ham boss Moyes said: “I have to say his recent form has been great and it’s really helped us.
“There’s not a club in the country that doesn’t need a top goalkeeper, and we’re lucky that we’ve got one.
“You’ve only got to look at Liverpool last year and how important the goalkeeper was, this year we’re talking about Manchester City’s keeper and how good he is.
“I think Lukasz is playing back to his best at the moment, his saves and the way he has been performing has been excellent. I’m glad we’ve got him for another year.
“How long can he go on? I don’t know, but I’m always going to try and bring in competition as much as I can.”
Fabianski joined West Ham for a bargain £7million from Swansea in 2018, shortly after Manuel Pellegrini had replaced Moyes as manager following his first spell in charge.
Moyes revealed: “I remember when I was here last time I spoke to Paul Clement, who had just lost his job as Swansea manager. He said, ‘The goalkeeper is fantastic’.
“I’d made my mind up that I was going to sign Lukasz and then we didn’t get kept on, but the club got Lukasz anyway, so there’s a little bit of history behind that.
“I think his performances and his consistency has been excellent, he’s a great lad to work with and more importantly a very good goalkeeper. He’s had a few ups and downs with injuries which has affected him but he’s made some outstanding saves.”
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta wants his side to return to the standards he has set for them.
The Gunners underperformed in a 1-0 Europa League defeat to Olympiacos on Thursday night, but advanced into the quarter-finals with a 3-2 aggregate win.
Arteta said after the game that his side would need to improve if they are to progress further in the competition, having been drawn against Slavia Prague in the last eight.
He knows the quality of the performance will also have to be higher to get a result at the London Stadium. Asked what lessons he could take from the loss to the Greek champions, Arteta said: “Basically that we have to maintain the standards that we set.
“Particularly when we are in possession of the ball – we had too many situations where we didn’t discriminate or make the right decision and then execution-wise we weren’t at our best.
“We know we will have a really tough game, they’ve been in great form, they’ve been really consistent, they know really well what to do and how to hurt opponents.
“I know David Moyes really well and I am sure he will prepare the match so it is a really difficult game for us.”
Arteta revealed on Friday that Moyes had a big influence on his managerial career, having played for the West Ham boss when he was in charge of Everton. He added: “They have a great manager and coaching staff. I know what David is capable of doing.”