BBC pundit Garth Crooks has selected two West Ham players in his team of the week after the 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham became the first team to beat Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thanks to Michail Antonio’s second-half goal.
Antonio was named in Crooks’ team of the week, alongside defender Issa Diop. But former Tottenham striker Crooks had some negative words to say about West Ham too.
Garth Crooks: Why do West Ham ‘hate Tottenham so much’?
Crooks explained that he does not understand the rivalry between West Ham and Tottenham. Spurs also have a rivalry with Arsenal and Chelsea but Crooks is unsure why all London clubs ‘hate’ the North London side.
Writing in his team of the week feature, Crooks reserved praise for Diop for his excellent defensive performance. And he added that Ryan Fredericks was solid.
But he questioned why West Ham’s players raised their game for the London derby. Describing it as his “central point”, Crooks wrote: “If West Ham approached every game as though they were playing Tottenham Hotspur, they would win the Premier League title. What is it with these London clubs. Why do they hate Tottenham so much?”
Garth Crooks: Antonio should ‘dump’ celebrations
West Ham’s match-winner Antonio was also praised by Crooks. The powerful 29-year-old took his goal well to cap a fine individual performance.
Crooks added: “This is a player who has a lot of ability, who is strong as an ox and can score goals with his feet and head. West Ham’s Antonio appeared to be the perfect foil for Marko Arnautovic and I’m not entirely sure why it’s taken manager Manuel Pellegrini so long to discover this bourgeoning double act.”
But Crooks had a tongue-in-cheek word of advice for Antonio. The ex-Spurs man told Antonio to “dump” his trademark celebrations after he scores.
Crooks wrote: “A word of advice for Antonio – keep scoring the goals, dump the celebration.”
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