Sports
West Ham Star ‘On Way Out’ After Nuno Decision vs Liverpool
The last act of Graham Potter as West Ham manager before being sacked was to change goalkeepers. Nuno Espirito Santos agreed with his conclusion.
Despite only signing in the summer, Mads Hermansen is already wildly out of favour. Signed for almost £20million from relegated Leicester City, the Danish shot-stopper has conceded 11 of West Ham’s 27 goals against this season.
He only played the first four games before Alphonse Areola found himself back in the team. Nuno chose to continue where Potter left off, with Hermansen on the bench and Areola starting.
Although the Frenchman lost four of his first five, things have picked up since. Areola may well not have kept a clean sheet yet, but he has kept the Hammers going in recent weeks.
Hermansen could leave in January
Now, with Nuno settling on his preferred XI, Hermansen is in a tricky situation. He remains behind Kasper Schmeichel for his country and is once again struggling to assert himself as a top-level No.1.
According to Clinton Morrison, the 25-year-old could be heading out of east London before we know it.
Speaking on BBC 5 Live during the 2-0 loss against Liverpool on Sunday, Morrison said: “Alphonse Areola has made the jersey his own.
“West Ham brought in Mads Hermansen and paid a lot of money, and now it looks like he could be on the way as he’s not playing any football.
“Areola deserves to be number one, big saves last week to earn them a draw and he’s made two crucial saves already.”
Although Areola was beaten by Alexander Isak in the second half – not a goal he could be blamed for – and then Cody Gakpo late on, it was thanks to him that West Ham had kept Liverpool at bay in the first place.
He spread himself to deny Isak in a close-range save at the London Stadium and continued his form from last weekend.
At Bournemouth, Areola produced miracles in earning his side a point. Despite conceding twice to throw away a two-goal lead on the south coast, Areola recorded a remarkable 2.1 post-shot xG (expected goals) differential.7G
In other words, he saved more than two goals more than underlying metrics would have predicted. He made eight saves on the day.
Hermansen was a problem for West Ham
Compare Areola to Hermansen and it is clear to see why Nuno, and eventually Potter, have gone this way.
Hermansen had -1.7PSxG in just four games. Although he was in the positive for Leicester last season, issues when defending set pieces also played a part.
In the 5-1 defeat to Chelsea, Hermansen was left flapping at two second-half corners as West Ham shipped three goals from dead-ball situations.
Areola is taller than his teammate and performs better in almost every statistic. His save percentage this season is higher, he completes more passes, claims more crosses, and concedes fewer goals, all on a per90 basis.
In all, it should be no major surprise that Areola is preferred and that talk around Hermansen’s short and long-term future at West Ham is in doubt.
Areola set to continue for Nuno
Although the former Paris-Saint Germain gloveman made a questionable decision to follow the ball out of his goal for Liverpool’s second, he will surely remain the first choice for coming games.
West Ham travel to Manchester United on Thursday and a testing run extends with a visit to Brighton and then hosting Aston Villa. They go to Manchester City before Christmas as well.
