This was not the debut Mads Hermansen was hoping for when West Ham United travelled to Sunderland for Saturday’s Premier League opener with a new face between the sticks.
Graham Potter wasted no time throwing his £18 million goalkeeper in at the deep end, only a few days after Hermansen trained with the West Ham squad for the first time.
Now, this was not quite a case of ‘sink or swim’.
More chances will present themselves over the course of a long season. And, in truth, the damage was already done before Hermansen’s late ‘mistake’ gifted Wilson Isidor a third Sunderland goal at the death.
But on a day in which the entire West Ham United team drowned under a tidal wave of ferocious Sunderland support, the former Leicester City glovesman was left floundering without a life raft to cling onto.
During another 3-0 win on Saturday afternoon, meanwhile, two more goalkeepers with admirers at the London Stadium went head to head. And it’s fair to say Viktor Johansson of Stoke City came out on top against Sheffield Wednesday and Pierce Charles.
Stoke City goalkeeper Viktor Johansson shows why West Ham United like him
Hammers News can confirm, via chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey, that West Ham made a bid for Pierce Charles, only to see Sheffield Wednesday slam down the shutters.
The Owls may be in a desperate financial position, but that does not mean they are willing to let their prized asset go for a reported fee of just over £1 million.
How much Stoke City would have demanded for Viktor Johansson, meanwhile, is anybody’s guess.
But with Fabrizio Romano having reported that a number of Premier League clubs are watching Stoke’s Swedish shot-stopper – West Ham considered a move of their own before reaching an agreement with Hermansen – his unbeatable display at Hillsborough will have surely added a pound or two onto his ever-growing price-tag.
Shortly after Charles charged off his line and failed to prevent a Stoke cross – two former West Ham kids combined, Sorba Thomas assisting Divin Mubama – Johansson may just have ended the Save of the Season competition as early as matchday three.
“It was a brilliant save,” Stoke boss Mark Robins smiled after watching Johansson palm aside a Barry Bannan overhead kick from point-blank range.
“There were a few saves that he made, including a double save when [Svante] Ingelsson had a shot and then [Liam] Palmer.”
To quote the Stoke Sentinel, that Bannan denial was nothing short of ‘stunning’. Yet another rapid-fire reaction from a goalkeeper who is making the spectacular look pretty commonplace down in the Championship.
Gary Lineker defends Mads Hermansen after Sunderland collapse
With Alphonse Areola and Wes Foderingham aged 32 and 35 respectively, and with the former linked to a return to French football with Paris FC, there may well be space in Potter’s squad for young Pierce Charles this summer.
But Johansson, at the peak of his powers at the age of 26, is unlikely to have any intention of leaving early-season pace-setters Stoke for a spot on a Premier League bench.
The West Ham ship has sailed, for better or for worse.
Though, having watched the Dane put up a heroic last line of defence last season, Leicester legend Gary Lineker is backing Hermansen to come back stronger from a punishing first appearance in a West Ham jersey.
“They obviously spent quite a few quid on him. I mean, I really like him. He’s been a brilliant shot stopper, but it was an awful debut,” Lineker told the Rest is Football podcast. “He tried to push [Isidor’s strike] out and missed it.
“He had a bad day. [But] I’ve seen a lot of him and I’m confident for West Ham fans that you’ll see much better from him going forward.
“I think he’s a top ‘keeper.”
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