Playing in a side that has been mired in a relegation battle since November can take its toll on players’ energy and resilience. It’s bad enough being a supporter. We as fans sometimes underestimate the effect on a team of players who live with the relegation spectre week in, week out through most of a season.
Having lost his place in Nuno’s first XI after a chaotic first four games, it has been a doubly stressful time for West Ham’s Mads Hermansen.
Hermansen very frank about his experience of relegation
Already having been relegated once in his short career, the former Leicester City keeper knows only too well the damage which sitting bottom-table virtually all season can create on an athlete’s outlook.
West Ham players congratulate Mads Hermansen
Hermansen- the highs and lows of West Ham’s season can take their toll
Plus, in his case, the mental low of being dropped and sitting on the bench for three months could so easily have been career defining. Hermansen was rumoured to be seeking a move away in January.
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As it turned out, the Dane stayed in east London and has now taken back the goal keeper jersey from ‘Fonz Areola. Skysports.com covered the ‘keeper’s experiences yesterday:
‘Mads Hermansen is reflecting on the pain of Premier League relegation last season with Leicester City. It’s not an experience he wants to repeat with West Ham.
“You can see your career, it’s going downwards, and you’re about to get relegated. Being in those feelings and emotions as a group and as a club, it’s really tough.”
Nightmare start could have ruined Hermansen’s career at West Ham
“We’ve been in this for quite many months,” says Hermansen about West Ham’s struggles this season. “The fear of where we might go, it’s not easy to work in. But praise to everyone here at the club for keeping the spirits high and making us believe that we can turn it around.”
And perhaps – possibly- there’s a teeny chink of light at the end of the dark tunnel which this season has been: Three points against Crystal Palace tomorrow and West Ham will open up a four point cushion: Not enough to relax but enough, possibly, for players and supporters alike to look forward to the final four games with something approaching optimism.