West Ham United have a decision to make over Mads Hermansen and Alphonse Areola ahead of Tuesday night’s game with Manchester United.
Neither goalkeeper has enjoyed a vintage season for West Ham United this time around, amassing only two clean sheets thus far.
Ironically, both of those have come with Hermansen in the side, though many would perhaps suggest that Areola is the better goalkeeper.
Here’s my hot take….
Doing a great job at Old Trafford – but there’s no way he’d have been a better fit to get us out of this mess than Nuno…
Still, Nuno Espirito Santo rolled the dice against Burnley on Saturday.
Indeed, Nuno dropped Areola for Hermansen, and the Dane did make some reasonably key saves as the Irons stopped a team from scoring for the first time since August.
It’s certainly a discussion point among West Ham fans, so Hammers News asked our subscribers on TalkingPoints a rather simple question.
If you were in charge on Tuesday night, who would you be starting? The response was interesting.
West Ham fans want Nuno Espirito Santo to drop Mads Hermansen for Alphonse Areola
Hermansen played well for West Ham against Burnley but context does need to be applied.
The Clarets are in dire form and looked condemned to a rather meek relegation weeks ago now.
Clearly, you can only beat what’s in front of you, but it’d be fair to say Hermansen wasn’t tested too much.
Who are you starting in goal against Manchester United?! 🧤
As such, plenty of West Ham fans urged Nuno to make a U-turn and bring Areola back into the fold.
“We need a keeper who’s tried and tested at such a vital point in the league,” wrote one fan. “We can’t risk Hermansen. Who knows? He could make silly mistakes when the pressure is on against Man United on Tuesday.
Another said: “Areola – no doubt at all.”
“Areola in goal,” was another response.
One supporter said: “I would play Areola. I think Man. Utd would be too much for Hermansen.”
“Areola,” wrote one supporter. “Hermansen save for the FA Cup.”
That’s not to say the former Leicester stopper didn’t get any support whatsoever.
One of our subscribers wrote: “I would give Hermansen a chance at it. But if Man United score a goal or if Hermansen shows poor form then we can immediately sub him for Areola just in case it doesn’t go his way. But I would give Hermansen a chance to start but change him for Areola if it doesn’t work out.”
You can engage with the Hammers News writers and subscribers on TalkingPoints! A free, non-toxic platform to discuss everything about the club.
Nuno’s hint on Mads Hermansen ahead of Manchester United match
Nuno isn’t typically one to give much away in his pre-match press conferences.
Monday’s one was no different, even when the West Ham head coach was asked about his goalkeeping situation.
Still, there was arguably something of a hint when Nuno said the coaching staff were “happy” with Hermansen following his Premier League outing in five months.
He said: “The goalkeepers are helping each other, and everyone is working. It’s up to us to make decisions, that are best for the team, and we were happy with the performance of Mads.”
Perhaps we really could see him between the posts on Tuesday night…
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