**Since the arrival and return of faces at West Ham, Nuno’s side have looked immense defensively, but how has that occurred?**
Defensively, the Hammers struggled for a while without Wan-Bissaka and Diouf whilst the pair were at AFCON, but upon their return, it still wasn’t enough to completely revolutionise the problems that we were experiencing. It was only after Nuno’s bravery and belief in playing Hermansen that everything began to transform and the foundations began to be laid.
Uninspiring, rookie-esc and dismal were the common descriptions to at summarised West Ham defensively before a few weeks ago, comical errors cost the Hammers dearly and ultimately have placed us in the costly position we now find ourselves in.
Against Burnley after conceding three in the previous week against Chelsea, Nuno decided enough was enough and placed Hermansen between the sticks as he believed the Dane could command his box better than Areola was able to. This action led to us keeping our second clean sheet of the season, but that was also helped through the inclusion of Axel Disasi.
Disasi arrived in the squad after Todibo’s red card and since has played 4 games, conceding only one goal, which was through a stroke of luck for the Red Devils in the 95th minute.
The combination of Hermansen and Disasi has been revolutionary, it’s been remarkable and surprising. No one would’ve anticipated that these two are what we needed to reform our defensive woes, but how wrong fans were, it does go to show that the manager does, in fact, know!
But seriously, if our defensive mishaps continued on, it likely would’ve ended poorly for the Hammers and perhaps would’ve certainly seen us go down. Hermansen’s ability to release the ball quickly, as well as the communication he has with his defenders, helps massively. It allows us to have more attacks and hit teams on the break as a surprise, something we weren’t able to achieve with Areola in goal, as he often opted for a slower build-up.
Positives for Disasi also come through his defensive ability, something of which Kilman struggled most. The Frenchman has superior heading ability at both ends of the pitch and was unlucky not to nick a goal against Bournemouth. Defensively, he helped others where they lacked and that’s exactly what the Hammers have been calling out for.
Through the combination of both Hermansen and Disasi, it has provided a much-needed refresh and bolster to what was a frequently fragile defence. The cracks are no longer paved over, they’ve been sealed.