For all the talk of West Ham United bringing Lazio goalkeeper Christos Mandas to the Premier League, the performance of a baby-faced shot-stopper on Tuesday night suggests a solution may already be staring Nuno in the face.
According to reports from Italy, West Ham have enquired about Mandas ahead of the January transfer window. Valued at around £10 million, the Greece international may be up for grabs after losing his starting spot under former Chelsea, Napoli and Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri.
There is even a slight chance of a seldom-seen swap deal. Lazio like Mads Hermansen, after all. Could West Ham United move on the £18 million benchwarmer while getting a readymade replacement as part of the arrangement?
Another question which arose following the 1-0 EFL Trophy victory over Colchester United on Tuesday, though, is whether the Hammers would even need to replace Hermansen?
Finlay Herrick trains regularly with Nuno’s first-team these days. One suspects it won’t be too long before he is playing for the first-team either.
Finlay Herrick ‘heroic’ as West Ham United edged past Colchester in the EFL Trophy
West Ham came in for plenty of criticism when they surprisingly recalled Finn Herrick from a loan spell at National League promotion chasers Boreham Wood.
A goalkeeper recently called up to the England Under-21s for the first time had made such a positive impact out on loan. So why did West Ham bring him back ahead of schedule, taking him out the men’s game and putting him back with the reserves?
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Well, the club may feel that progress to the last-16 of the EFL Trophy was justification enough.
Herrick is ‘unbelievably’ good with the ball at his feet, according to former West Ham goalkeeping coach Linus Kandolin. The 19-year-old is proving himself to be a bit of an expert when it comes to saving penalties as well.
“He [Herrick] was outstanding,” Greg Lincoln, West Ham’s interim Under-21 coach, tells the club’s official website.
“I think that he showed his maturity with his performance. He had a really successful spell out on loan at Boreham Wood, and he’s come back into the club. He does things properly, and he trains well.
“I think you could see all the learning from his loan spell out there on the pitch tonight. We know he’s a fantastic keeper and a fantastic shot stopper, and it was a real heroic performance.”
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Not only did Herrick keep out a stoppage time penalty from Colchester’s Micah Mbick, he also reacted at the speed of light to tip his follow-up onto the crossbar. Heroic, indeed.
And that is without mentioning the host of eye-catching saves he pulled off from open play as their League Two opponents hammered on the door without ever succeeding in picking the lock.
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“The supporters were excellent. We spoke before the game and at half-time about giving them something to get behind,” beams Lincoln, West Ham the only reserve side left in the competition.
“We wanted to show what we represent as a club, supporters, players, and staff: playing fast, forward-thinking, attacking football.
“They really did make the difference there for us tonight, and hopefully we get the same sort of numbers in the next game against AFC Wimbledon.”
Colchester boss left to rue Herrick’s brilliance in goal
Herrick has form when it comes his spot-kick-saving specialty.
The teenager excelled from 12 yards as England’s Under-18s beat the Netherlands in the Pinatar Super Cup last year. Back in 2023, Herrick helped knock Southampton out of the FA Youth Cup during a penalty shoot-out triumph, while also saving further spot-kicks against West Brom and Manchester City.
He pulled off another during his brief spell with Boreham Wood, albeit on this occasion he was unable to prevent the follow-up.
“West Ham have got some really, really good players,” said Colchester boss Danny Cowley on a night when George Earthy scored the winner. “We wanted to be aggressive with our pressure, but we were too passive, didn’t play with enough personality, with enough character.
“In the first 60 minutes, we were well short. The last 30 minutes, we probably showed that if we had played the way we had set out to, we would have been in a good place to win the game.
“We had chance after chance after chance and, but for a brilliant goalkeeping display, I think we probably win the game.
“You don’t lose the game because we missed chances, because the goalkeeper had a brilliant game and we miss a penalty in the 90th minute. We lose that game because of the way we started it.”
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