adminWest Ham’s promotion push hit a new low on Saturday, and Kevin Phillips has not held back in his assessment of the man between the sticks.
The Hammers slumped to a 3-1 defeat at the London Stadium against a slick West Bromwich Albion side, booed off at half-time and full-time as Nuno Espirito Santo’s tenure lurched deeper into crisis .
While the defensive unit in front of him was cut apart repeatedly, Phillips has singled out Danish goalkeeper Mads Hermansen for particularly scathing treatment, branding his performance “shameful” and questioning whether the £20m summer signing has the mentality for a club with West Ham’s expectations.
A Halloween Horror Show in East London
The facts of the afternoon make grim reading for anyone of a claret and blue persuasion. Felix Horn Myhre tapped in the opener after 20 minutes, Jimmy-Jay Morgan restored Albion’s lead within three minutes of the restart, and Callum Styles lashed home a third 17 minutes from time . Jarrod Bowen’s deflected equaliser was the lone moment of respite on an afternoon that saw West Ham fall to eighth in the Championship, six points adrift of the automatic promotion places .
But for Phillips, the scoreline only tells part of the story. The former England striker, speaking in the wake of the defeat, focused his ire on Hermansen’s handling of the fundamentals — specifically his command of his penalty area and his distribution under pressure.
“He Looks Like a Liability, Not a Goalkeeper”
Phillips did not mince his words when assessing the Dane’s contribution.
“You can talk about the defence all day, and goodness knows they deserve criticism, but a goalkeeper is there to bail his team out and instil calm. Hermansen did neither. He looked like a liability, not a goalkeeper.”
The statistics support Phillips’ frustration. Hermansen received a damning 3/10 rating from West Ham fan site Claret & Hugh, who noted that he “completely lost the flight of the ball” from a second-half set piece and was “fortunate not to concede” . Another ratings piece handed him a 4/10, reflecting a broader consensus that the goalkeeper’s unconvincing afternoon was part of a systemic collapse .
Phillips zeroed in on the psychological dimension as much as the technical one. For a goalkeeper signed for roughly £20m from Leicester City with a reputation for solid shot-stopping and competence in possession, the former Sunderland and West Brom striker argued that Hermansen’s body language betrayed a player shrinking under the weight of expectation.
“When you sign for a club like West Ham, you have to have broad shoulders. You have to want the ball, want the pressure. I didn’t see that. I saw a lad who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.”
The Context Makes It Worse
What compounds the frustration for Phillips is the timing. This was not an isolated off-day against a superior Premier League opponent. It was a home defeat — a second consecutive one at the London Stadium, following the 3-2 loss to Southampton — against a West Brom side that, while impressive, sits in the same division .
Hermansen had already faced scrutiny before the Albion match. Reports ahead of the fixture highlighted his negative xG prevented figure (-0.95, ranking 15th in the Championship) and a save percentage of just 62.5% . His flap at a cross in the build-up to James Bree’s goal against Southampton was cited as evidence of a recurring flaw, one that was exposed again on Saturday.
Phillips argued that West Ham’s goalkeeping department, with Alphonse Areola waiting in reserve, now demands a change.
“You’ve got an experienced international sitting on the bench. If Nuno doesn’t make that change now, after that display, then what message does that send? Hermansen needs to be taken out of the firing line. For his own good and for the team’s.”
A Broader Malaise
It would be unfair to lay the entire defeat at Hermansen’s door. West Ham’s backline was repeatedly carved open by Isaac Price and Morgan, with Max Kilman and Morato struggling desperately against the latter’s movement . The midfield lacked bite, and the home crowd’s patience snapped long before the final whistle, with chants of “sacked in the morning” directed at Nuno .
But Phillips’ point is that the goalkeeper is supposed to be the last line of resistance, the one figure who can mitigate chaos rather than contribute to it. On an afternoon when West Ham needed a steady hand, they got anything but.
“I’ve watched West Ham a lot this season, and the goalkeeper situation has been a problem waiting to happen. Today it happened. If they want to get out of this division, they need a keeper who makes saves he shouldn’t make, not one who makes you hold your breath every time the ball comes near him.”
What Comes Next?
West Ham face Cardiff City on Wednesday before a trip to Blackburn, with Nuno’s position increasingly precarious . The question now is whether Hermansen retains his place for that crucial run of fixtures. Areola, a 6ft 5in former France international, offers a more physically commanding presence and the kind of experience that Phillips believes this West Ham side is crying out for .
For Hermansen, the path back may require a spell out of the spotlight. For Nuno, the decision may be the difference between steadying the ship and going down with it.
Phillips, typically forthright, left little room for ambiguity.
“Shameful. That’s the word. A shameful goalkeeping performance in a game West Ham simply had to win. And if nobody at that club tells him that, then the problems run deeper than one player.”
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