Several West Ham players appear to be riding high in their best form of the season as the late resurgence in fortunes continues to threaten other clubs: As the Hammers defy expectations and pick up extra points, the relegation battle that looked a foregone conclusion just a few weeks ago could now suck in Leeds and Spurs as well as Nottingham Forest over the coming weeks.
Crysencio Summerville, Taty Castellanos, Jarrod Bowen, Mateus Fernandes, Konstantinos Mavropanos and latterly Tomas Soucek all appear to have hit top form at the right time but perhaps the most surprising turn around has come from goal keeper Mads Hermansen who was on the scrap heap just a months ago – and widely expected to leave in January.
Hermansen – back in the number one spot
After a traumatic first four games under Potter in which the Dane was beaten eleven times it seemed that his would be the worst transfer of the summer: As the club spokesman claimed, passing verdict on Hermansen at the time:
“We’ve just wasted £15 million”
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Fast forward to February and it is a different character between the posts: After a shaky first ten minutes against Burnley, Hermansen came through and has grown in stature since. Saved last night by Wan Bissaka’s goal-line knee clearance, Hermansen’s performance against corners and crosses looked significantly improved and his distribution – turning back-passes into immediate attacks with pin point forward balls – looked a major bonus and an addition to the Hammers’ ability to move the ball swiftly up the pitch – at last.
Important to add that neither he – nor Areola for that matter- could have done anything to prevent Benjamin Sesko’s late equaliser – that’s the kind of quality finish that £70 million buys I suppose.
Known amongst C and H writers as either ‘clean sheet Mads’ or ‘the Danish flapper‘ depending on whose opinion you seek, it would seem that he’s been duly restored as ‘Nuno’s number one’:
Perhaps David Sullivan’s cash is looking safer now that Hermansen appears to have played himself back into favour and dispelled those memories of that shaky start to his Hammers career.