An injury-hit frontline and an error-prone goalkeeper seldom makes for the tastiest recipes, with a dreadful Premier League campaign leaving a bad taste in the mouths of West Ham United supporters.
Niclas Fullkrug was supposed to be the £27 million answer to West Ham United’s long-running striker curse. Starting only four Premier League matches, however, one wonders if the big German had stumbled unknowingly underneath thirteen different ladders while stamping on the odd mirror en route to the London Stadium.
Crysencio Summerville’s season is now officially over, meanwhile. The injury which kept the former Leeds talisman out since January extending into the summer.
At the other end of the pitch, the feeling held by many supporters is that Alphonse Areola is ‘a glaring weak spot in the West Ham team’. The now-40-year-old Lukasz Fabianski is hardly a long-term alternative.
The embattled Graham Potter can only dream of finding himself in same position as Jacob Neestrup. The Copenhagen coach who, this season, has had the luxury of picking between former Hammer Nathan Trott and Borussia Dortmund loanee Diant Ramaj.
Nathan Trott impressing despite mixed start to life after West Ham United
West Ham let Trott leave for the 15-time Danish champions last summer. The goalkeeper dreamed of first-team football with The Hammers. A dream which would go unfulfilled.
But if he craved regular first-team football at Copenhagen – Trott will turn 27 this year and departed the London Stadium having yet to really establish himself in senior football – then a tally of 30 appearances during his debut season in Scandinavia represents a pretty healthy return.
Yet, things have taken a turn for the worse since January.
Copenhagen brought in the highly-rated young German Diant Ramaj on a short-term deal from Dortmund. Ramaj, arriving via a similar loan spell at Ajax and with considerable pedigree, quickly relegated Trott back to the familiar surroundings of the subsitutes’ bench.
And, despite an impressive three-game spell back in the Copenhagen net during Ramaj’s recent suspension, Trott returned to his back-seat role when Neestrup’s team went head-to-head with Viborg in the Danish Cup on Thursday evening.
Neestrup has since confirmed that Trott will remain second choice until Ramaj’s loan deal comes to an end. Though, on the upside, the former AFC Wimbledon loanee has clearly impressed enough to suggest that the number one jersey could be his to seize once again from pre-season onwards.
Trott could end the season as a Danish Superliga champion with Copenhagen
Copenhagen moved above Midtjylland at the top of the Danish Superliga table following successive 3-1 wins over Aarhus GF.
Following a rather nervy display in the 4-2 defeat to title rivals Midtjylland – Trott’s first league appearance since November – the way he commanded his penalty area against a physical Aarhus outfit did not go unnoticed.
“Nathan, after a difficult start in Midtjylland, the way he attacked AGF’s set-piece game in the two games has been to perfection,” Neestrup smiles, Copenhagen now a point clear at the top with four games remaining. “The man should be highly commended for that.
“I’m happy with how Nathan Trott has performed in the last two games. I think he’s been part of two great wins against AGF.
“[But] you always look at it from a sporting perspective. Diant is basically our first-choice keeper at the moment. That’s why he’s back in goal [against Viborg].”
A season of highs, lows, praise and criticism, then, for Nathan Trott.
Life of a goalkeeper, indeed.
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