Mads Hermansen reflects on the agony of Premier League relegation with Leicester City, an experience he hopes to avoid with West Ham. The goalkeeper openly discusses the strain and pressure at the bottom of the league. However, after West Ham's decisive 4-0 victory over Wolves, which put their survival in their own hands, Hermansen expresses cautious optimism that the team's unity can help them avoid the same fate as the Foxes.
"We've been in this situation for many months," Hermansen says about West Ham's struggles. "The fear of where we might end up is not easy to deal with, but credit to everyone at the club for keeping spirits high and making us believe we can turn it around." With their win over Wolves, West Ham moved out of the relegation zone for the first time in a month, but the battle for survival looks set to go down to the wire, with London rivals Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, and Leeds United also far from safe. For West Ham to stay up, Hermansen believes their togetherness will be crucial.
"Our unity, our relationships with each other," he says when asked about the team's strengths. "Every person brings their personality to the team, and we have many great characters willing to give everything for the club." It has been a season where Hermansen has personally had to show resilience. Signed last summer as the Hammers' No 1, he was dropped for Alphonse Areola after just four Premier League games in which the team conceded 11 goals.
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, Hermansen 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 a good decision in signing me, and of course, the performances were not what I hoped for," Hermansen reflects on his difficult start.
"I'm happy I got another chance to show what I can do." Hermansen is proud of how he used his time out of the team to improve, focusing on managing his emotions to just get the job done. "I'm quite an emotional guy, and when things get emotional, I try to ask myself how I can take the emotional aspect out of the football part of my life and just do my job," he said. "Those questions I had to ask myself during that period, I've really learned to bring that along now when I'm playing, which has helped me a lot." For Hermansen and West Ham, the key to survival lies in their collective strength and belief in themselves.
"We believe a lot in ourselves," he said. "It's going to get tough, but we believe we have a lot to give."