By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen has admitted what many of us already knew after Sunday’s draw with Rangers… the Hammers were well below their best.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s side were held to a 0-0 draw in the pre-season friendly at Ibrox. To be fair to the man between the sticks, the defence in front of him performed admirably.
Unfortunately, those a little further up the pitch failed to fire, and the team looked sluggish and lacking in cutting edge. It’s a concern with the season opener against Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup now just around the corner.
Hermansen admits West Ham were sloppy
None of the above was lost on Hermansen, who played the full 90 minutes but was spared the chore of watching the game back.
When asked by whufc.com whether it was noticeable that Rangers were further ahead in their preparations, Mads replied:
“Yeah, a little bit. I haven’t seen the game back, but there were times where we were a little bit sloppy, a little bit slow on our behalf starting, and that’s something that we need to get better on, as the quality of the opposition that we’re up against, we nearly got punished a few times losing the ball in areas where we can’t lose the ball.
“But that’s what these games are for, to get the mistakes out of the way, to try those things, to risk those things. It was a good test, and we’ve got one more before the Portsmouth game.”
Time to find a cutting edge
He’s not wrong. West Ham do need to be more precise with their passing, but hopefully not at the expense of creativity.
The Hammers travel to Germany to face Magdeburg next weekend, and we’ll all be hoping to see far more crosses, killer passes and players willing to run directly at defenders before Nuno Espírito Santo takes his side into the competitive action.