The phrase ‘former West Ham defender’ when talking about Real Madrid, Liverpool, Spain, and all-round football legend Álvaro Arbeloa sounds silly.
However, he did play for the Hammers, which I don’t think too many neutral fans would know. And I wouldn’t blame them at all, because it was for a very short period.
Arbeloa spent the 2016-17 season at West Ham, the final season of his trophy-packed footballing career, and it wasn’t a good one. He only made 4 appearances in total under Slaven Bilic.
In November 2017, the season after Arbeloa had retired, Bilic was sacked. In reaction to the Croatian manager’s sacking, the Spaniard tweeted, ‘Better late than never.’
However, the former Real Madrid manager and now Fulham boss hasn’t let his poor spell at the club affect him; in fact, he has actually spoken well of the club ahead of tonight’s match.
Arbeloa said: “An away game against a team performing so well. They won 6-0, they beat Southampton also, so we know them. They are a difficult team. For me, they are not a Championship team.”
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