While Mads Hermansen looks destined to begin the new Premier League campaign as West Ham United’s number one, depth is not only provided at the London Stadium by Alphonse Areola and Wes Foderingham.
Graham Potter now has, at his disposal, three goalkeepers with a combined tally of 200 Premier League appearances between them.
Mads Hermansen could make his debut at Sunderland on Saturday. Alphonse Areola will presumably start on the bench – relegated to second-choice after a handful of unforced errors throughout the short-lived Potter reign – while Foderingham provides further support in reserve.
All three could be seen in action as the newly-appointed Casper Ankergren led training at Rush Green in midweek. Hermansen, Areola and Foderingham all being tested not only on their reflexes but also their ability to build up from the back and create passing lanes.
Of course, any goalkeeper in a Graham Potter system must be pretty confident with the ball at his feet.
Fin Herrick, then, appears to be heading in the right direction if he wants to force his way into the manager’s thinking. Ankergren, speaking to the official West Ham United website, cannot speak highly enough of Herrick and also a 17-year-old sensation who is becoming a regular fixture in first-team training drills.
Casper Ankergren hails West Ham United starlets Fin Herrick and Lanre Awesu
Fin Herrick claimed the Premier League 2 Golden Glove award last season. Seven clean sheets were accumulated en route to a fourth-place finish.
But, as Under-21 boss Mark Robson was keen to point out a few weeks ago, Herrick is making major progress at West Ham with regards to his distribution too. Who knows, perhaps a senior debut could be his reward when the Hammers face Wolves in the second round of the Carabao Cup this month.
As for Awesu, two years Herrick’s junior at the age of 17, the England youth star looks ready to make a step up of his own. He made his first two appearances at Under-21 level a few months ago.
“We’ve got a lot of experience within our goalkeeping group,” says Ankergren, recently appointed as West Ham’s new lead first-team goalkeeping coach. “Mads, Alphonse and Wes have a lot of Premier League appearances between them.
“Then you’ve got Fin, who did really, really well last year for the U21s and is a really talented keeper.
“You’ve got Lanre, only 17. He’s trained with us more or less every day and has really taken everything on board. [Awesu] works really, really hard and is a mature boy, and he’s done really well. You wouldn’t think that he’s only 17.
“We’ve got different characters and different styles, but we’ve got a nice dynamic within the group, and it works really, really well.”
Ankergren explains West Ham’s goalkeeping plan under Graham Potter
Ankergren made over 200 appearances in English football himself, representing Leeds United and Brighton and Hove Albion.
He returns to the UK two years after Ankergren described Hermansen as an ‘amazing’ talent during their time together at Danish outfit Brondby.
“We want to create an environment that’s challenging, [so that] the goalkeepers have a chance to develop and be given the best possible chance of success,” Ankergren adds.
“It needs to be competitive, but with respect for each other, and the dynamic in the group has to be good for the individual to improve.”
Graham Potter is confident Ankergren will be an ‘excellent’ addition to the West Ham staff. Another new face at Rush Green is that of Linus Kandolin, a fellow goalkeeping expert who will assist Ankergren behind the scenes.
Two months younger than the aforementioned Foderingham, Kandolin built up a considerable reputation at Elfsborg in Sweden and reunites with a coach he knows very well from Ostersunds.
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