**One of the silver linings of West Ham’s FA Cup defeat to Leeds was the debut of young goalkeeper Fin Herrick.**
Within the space of a couple of months, the 20-year-old has starred for Boreham Wood, been recalled to the Irons’ youth side and made his first-team debut in a vital cup clash.
Sunday’s game was dramatic enough as it was, even before Alphonse Areola went down injured late in extra time. For most young goalkeepers, unexpectedly making your debut in such a big game would be a problem.
But not for Herrick, who displayed great confidence and composure even before coming off the bench. His confidence even carried him to saving the opening penalty in the shoot-out, to a huge reaction at the London Stadium.
The young goalkeeper was elated, giving it large after the huge moment. It was great to see a West Ham youngster show such cockiness and confidence. Even when he hadn’t saved a penalty, he had a big smile on his face, gesturing with his hand how close he was to saving it.
It was almost like he was implying the Leeds players got off lucky. And while West Ham fans loved Herrick’s antics, fans of Daniel Farke’s side did not view them with such fondness.
Following the game, Leeds fans online criticised Herrick for being too cocky, especially for a young player.
One Leeds fan even posted two pictures of the young goalkeeper – one of him celebrating and one of him after losing the shoot-out – with the caption “life comes at you fast”, taunting the goalkeeper’s previous swagger.
Other Leeds fans appreciated how big the occasion was for Herrick, but this latest online episode was yet another example of the hypocrisy of modern football fans.
So many supporters, especially those in online spaces, yearn for the days of football past; the “Barclays” era, where proper football was played before social media seemingly ruined the game.
One of the big criticisms of the modern game has been how players are overly “media-trained”, lacking the personality previous generations showed. But, like in Herrick’s case, when players do show some personality, they get labelled as “cringe” or worse.
At the end of the day, it was a huge occasion for the young man, and the adrenaline of the situation probably hyped him up, especially once he saved the first penalty from Joel Piroe.
The 20-year-old wasn’t popular with the Leeds faithful, but his boldness and passion instantly endeared him to West Ham fans, many of whom were already aware of his talent.
I’m glad Mads Hermansen will be back in the side on Friday. But after the weekend, I’m looking forward to seeing more of Fin Herrick for the Hammers.