Roberto De Zerbi put Nuno Espirito Santo to shame with his approach as Spurs beat Aston Villa away to leave West Ham on the brink of relegation and financial abyss.
West Ham were two points above bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur and had survival in their own hands with four Premier League games to go.
Instead of piling pressure on Spurs, West Ham’s meek 3-0 surrender at Brentford, where they looked sluggish from the start and were woeful in both boxes, handed Roberto De Zerbi’s side a golden chance to leapfrog the Hammers out of the bottom three.
Clearly incentivised by West Ham’s dismal result 24 hours before, that’s exactly what Tottenham did at Villa Park.
Brave De Zerbi shows negative Nuno the value of bravery
And De Zerbi put Nuno Espirito Santo to shame as Spurs leave West Ham on the brink of relegation.
The Hammers can moan all they like about the fact Unai Emery made seven changes to his side and effectively surrendered the game against Tottenham.
What a sorry old mess 😪 How have we let it slip AGAIN?!
But the fact is a Premier League season is played over 38 games and Emery is within his rights to juggle his squad as he sees fit. Especially with a major European semi-final looming large on Thursday night.
What should anger West Ham fans more is the spineless tactics and approach of their manager compared to De Zerbi.
A couple of weeks ago West Ham were handed a great chance to widen the gap to Spurs when they played away at a distracted and under strength Crystal Palace.
The Eagles players looked more concerned with not getting injured for their European semi than beating West Ham that night.
Oliver Glasner’s side were there for the taking but Nuno set his team up to defend and West Ham sat back the entire second half, settling for a point.
Contrast that with De Zerbi’s tactics and approach when Tottenham were handed a similar opportunity against an under-strength and distracted Villa team and it is night and day.
Positive Spurs leave Hammers on brink of relegation
The Italian set Spurs up to press high, attack from the off and go at Villa.
The reward? A comfortable 2-1 win that sees Tottenham go one point above the Hammers, pushing them into the bottom three with three games left.
Nuno still feels positive about West Ham’s chances – but do YOU?
Spurs’ superior goal difference is worth a point and they have Leeds at home up next.
With West Ham facing tough games against Arsenal and Newcastle before playing Leeds on the final day, Nuno’s side realistically need at least a win and two draws or two wins to have any hope of survival.
Hapless Graham Potter left West Ham in a complete mess.
He was not helped by one woeful decision after another from the board in the two years prior, one of which was keeping him on despite his awful record in the six months of the previous season.
Nuno deserves credit for giving West Ham hope with the team’s form since January.
But the ex Tottenham boss has taken far too long to get the team together, find his preferred starting XI and the players understanding how he wants to play.
When it has mattered most his tactics have been defensive and negative and some of his team selection decisions – such as playing the inept Pablo and Taty ahead of proven goalscorer Callum Wilson – have been baffling.
Meanwhile, De Zerbi has been forthright, positive and has gone on the attack with Tottenham.
That paid off in spades at Villa Park and it leaves West Ham not only big favourites for the drop but facing financial disaster after club record losses.
Next could be the ignominy of watching Declan Rice get one hand on the Premier League title while hammering another nail into West Ham’s relegation coffin.
Typically, Arsenal found some form in beating Fulham 3-0 before they travel to the London Stadium.
West Ham had a similar chance against Palace as Spurs did at Villa. The big difference is the Hammers didn’t go for it whereas Tottenham did.
West Ham can feel sorry for themselves all they want but Nuno needed to be braver and De Zerbi’s courage has put the Hammers deep in the mire.
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