Nuno Espirito Santo has a dilemma. West Ham have just shipped five goals, the first three being the subject of huge public and supporter scrutiny as they all came from corners – set pieces- in the first half at Anfield. Any repeat of this against Fulham will see the window of opportunity for the Hammers to lift themselves out of the relegation zone surely shut tight.
As a former goal keeper, Nuno has the experience where it counts – at the back, between the sticks – to make the call over changing his first choice keeper. Surely Mads Hermansen will sit the Craven Cottage visit out on the Irons’ bench?
No goal keeper can concede five times with impunity.
And remember it isn’t the first time the likeable Dane has suffered a cave-in. Hermansen was dropped after conceding eleven times in his first four outings.
Despite the trio of Hermansen, Disasi and Mavropanos’ post mortem after the Liverpool debacle, Nuno needs to act. According to the nytimes.com:
“Mavropanos, Disasi and Hermansen had a lengthy discussion after the loss to Liverpool. They have been key performers in West Ham’s recent upturn in performances and will hope last Saturday was just a bump in the road.”
Is Areola more capable of keeping Fulham at bay? Nuno’ has a huge call to make
“Bump in the road?” I’d suggest more a massive pothole.
The defenders deserve another shot: With Todibo waiting in the wings, they know another slip-up will likely lead to one or other of them heading to the bench. Hermansen, however, cannot be expecting to walk out at the start of play at Craven Cottage after such a mediocre performance.
Where Areola can do a better job of dominating his ‘box remains to be seen: The Frenchman’s greater stature at least means he won’t be bullied by opponents during set-pieces – in the way in which we’ve become painfully accustomed to watching when the Dane takes the gloves.
I am not keen on Hermadsen as he seems to small and literally can not get to a well placed shot. I find Areola is a better shot stopper but ironically he is dreadful at corners and definitely does not dominate the situation. Even though I prefer him I’m not sure I would change because Hermadsen has done reasonably well since his return apart from Saturday. I agree with the comments above that neither are top drawer but can’t agree with dropping AWB as apart from Saturday he has been excellent and it’s not surprise we did so bad when he was at AFCON
Martin, I can’t see the keeper done much wrong against Liverpool. 1st goal marking error possibly from the full back and even then the shot was deflected in. After that a goal where a player in offside position infront of the keeper, a goal where the defenders loose Vandyke, and another deflection from a ball crossed from the right. Hardly a bad performance.
Well said Rob. Saved me the trouble. Cheers mate.
I’m not sure changing the keeper again will help.
We need some stability.
Monday brings the FA Cup, thus another change.
AWB should be the only change.
Been poor for to long.
Just a month ago certain authors had a lot to say after Hermansen kept a clean sheet against mighty Burnley. The rhetoric at the time was all about “clean sheet Mads” and how he should be first choice. West Ham should have taken a more cautious approach, but didn’t and so now, after shipping five against Liverpool, Hermansen is the target again and Areola is back to first choice. The fact is that neither of them is a top drawer PL keeper, with Hermansen unable to dominate his own area and Areola incapable of distributing the ball to his own team. So, it is down to the coach to step up and draw on his experience to pick the best option for each game.
Is Fabianski fit yet?