"Your career seems to be heading downhill, and the threat of relegation is looming. As a team and a club, it's extremely challenging to navigate these emotions." Mads Hermansen reflects on the painful experience of Premier League relegation with Leicester City last season, an ordeal he hopes to avoid with West Ham.
The goalkeeper openly discusses the immense pressure and strain of being at the bottom of the Premier League. However, he notes that he has learned valuable lessons from last season. Following West Ham's decisive 4-0 victory over Wolves, which has put their survival hopes in their own hands, there is now a sense of cautious optimism that the team's unity can help them avoid the same fate as Leicester. "We've been in this situation for several months," Hermansen says about West Ham's struggles this season.
"The fear of our potential relegation is not easy to overcome, but I commend everyone at the club for maintaining high spirits and making us believe we can turn things around." West Ham has moved out of the relegation zone for the first time in a month with the win over Wolves. Nevertheless, this battle for survival appears to be far from over, with London rivals Tottenham, as well as Nottingham Forest and Leeds United, still not safe.
If West Ham is to remain in the Premier League, Hermansen believes their unity will be crucial. "Our togetherness and the relationships between us are our strengths," he says. "Every individual brings their unique personality to the team, and we have many great characters here who are willing to give everything for the club." It has been a season where Denmark international Hermansen has had to demonstrate personal resilience as well. The highly-rated 25-year-old was signed last summer to be West Ham's No 1, but after just four Premier League games, in which the team conceded 11 goals, he was replaced by Alphonse Areola.
He didn't play again until a FA Cup win over QPR in January and had to wait until February 7 at Burnley for a Premier League comeback. Since his reinstatement, he has made more saves than any other Premier League goalkeeper and kept four clean sheets in eight matches.
"I wanted to prove to my teammates, the club, and the fans that they made the right decision in signing me, and of course, my initial performances were not what I had hoped for," says Hermansen, reflecting on his difficult start. "I'm just happy I got another chance to show what I can do." Hermansen says he is proud of how he used his time out of the team to improve his game so he was ready to step up when needed.
"It was a tough period, but I also got the chance to prove my worth and show how disciplined and hard I can work for an extended period," he said. "I proved to myself what I'm capable of when things get tough." "I'm proud of the work I did during that time, and to be able to bring it to the pitch, and together with the team, we've had some great performances and results, which has been really nice." What areas of his game did he focus on?
"I'm quite an emotional person, and when things get emotional, I try to ask myself how I can separate my emotions from the football aspect of my life and just focus on doing my job and giving it my all, so every night when I go to bed, I can say to myself, I did everything I could to improve and show myself in the best possible way." "The questions I had to ask myself during that period, I've really learned to apply them now when I'm playing, which has helped me a lot." "It's easy to say that coming out of a tough period was really good for me, but I genuinely learned a lot from it." Hermansen, like West Ham, has come back stronger for the run-in. But he and his teammates are well aware that the job is far from over. "We believe in ourselves," he said. "It's going to get tough, but we believe we have a lot to give." Play Super 6 for a chance to win £250k.
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