It is always a risk criticising another Premier League team’s goalkeeper just as West Ham United are set to kick off a match of their own, Nuno Espirito Santo returning to Molineux in a Wolves reunion at 3pm.
But still, surely your correspondent is not jinxing too much things when he says that Alphonse Areola would have to do something pretty spectacular if he is to overshadow the bizarre mistake made by John Victor during Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa.
West Ham supposedly missed out on a ‘terrific’ goalkeeper when talks to bring the 6ft 6ins Brazilian broke down over the summer.
As John Victor flew out of his goal and into the wild winds of no-mans land, ‘terrific’ is not the first word which came to mind. ‘Terrible’, maybe.
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Andy Hinchcliffe, the Sky Sports commentator left baffled and bemused as John McGinn calmly skipped past John Victor and slotted into the open net from nearly 30 yards out, was certainly not in a mood to pull any punches.
John Victor makes huge Nottingham Forest error ahead of West Ham United clash
Now, Areola did not cover himself in glory either a few days earlier.
Nuno Espirito Santo was ‘disappointed’ to see a West Ham United side who had made such improvements regarding their set-piece defending gift Brighton an equaliser. Areola flapped, uncharacteristically, as Joel Veltman profited.
Even the very best goalkeepers make the odd fumble in a crowded penalty area though. Aston Villa’s own Emi Martinez came in for plenty of flak himself as Gabriel powered Arsenal in front on the same night that West Ham threw away a 1-0 and a 2-1 lead against the Seagulls.
This from John Victor, though, was something much more bizarre. Something much less explainable.
It wasn’t just the visiting Forest fans you could hear groaning either. Had John made such an error a month earlier, we might have seen a sudden return to former glories of those festive ‘Own Goals and Gaffes’ DVDs which filled many a teenager’s stocking in the 1990s and 2000s.
“What on earth are you doing?,” former England international Hinchcliffe bellowed from his position in the gantry. “If you come flying out, you have to get the ball and he gets nowhere near it!
“What is the goalkeeping thinking? He’s made a terrible, terrible decision and that could end up costing Forest the game.”
West Ham hope to leapfrog Forest as Alphonse Areola looks to bounce back
Cost Forest the game it most certainly did.
Morgan Gibbs-White had halved the deficit only 12 minutes earlier with a gorgeous clipped finish over a helpless Martinez. So one suspects the phrase ‘agent John’ might have been doing the rounds in Hammers households after the goalkeeper they held talks to sign from Botafogo only a few months ago all-but ended the match as a contest.
Beat Wolves today, and West Ham will host Nottingham Forest on Tuesday knowing that a win will lift them out of the relegation zone heading into the FA Cup weekend.
Played for both – West Ham and Wolves! 🤝
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It remains to be seen if John is even fit to play at the London Stadium. To add injury to insult, he was forced off after picking up some kind of a knock while McGinn’s celebrations were still in full flow.
Of course, the Londoners cannot simply laugh in Forest’s faces and expect no retort.
Hammers News can confirm that, as talks between West Ham and Botafogo broke down, Graham Potter always preferred the option of bringing in Mads Hermansen for around double the fee Forest eventually ended up parting with.
Without a single Premier League appearance since August, £18 million Hermansen is up there with the worst pound-for-pound additions anywhere in Europe this season.
Fortunately, that Brighton error aside, Nuno has been able to call upon a revitalised Areola.
Touch wood.
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