Let’s take a look at some of the main causes of discussion from Saturday’s London Derby defeat to Spurs, as we conceded and were beaten for the first time in September.
Was Antonio Fit Enough To Start?
Many Hammers were left questioning the Matchday judgment of Slaven Bilic and his Staff on Saturday morning, as Michail Antonio was forced off with an early Groin injury.
Furthermore, the forward’s inclusion in the Game was subject to a late passed fitness test from the beginning, but fans and pundits were not convinced about whether or not he was ready.
De Ja Vu? Perhaps. Many may remember a certain tie with Swansea City at The London Stadium last season in which Antonio incurred a similar injury.
In that Game, the England star was also risked from the start and his subsequent injury kept him out for the rest of the campaign from April and also the start of this one.
For most, the timing of Antonio’s knock was pivotal in the context of the balance of proceedings. It came at a time when we were pushing for an opener and killed our momentum, additionally, his replacement in the form of Andy Carroll gave the ball away for Spurs’ opening goal.
Just like the entirety of The Claret & Blue Army, Bilic will be praying that the winger’s injury is minor, but could all of this have been avoidable? With a must-win clash against Swansea City on the horizon.
Damage Limitation A Rare Positive In East London
One of the very few confidence boosters to take from Saturday’s blemish was surely the score-line and manner in which it came about.
Although we could not match The Lilywhites for long periods of the 90 minutes, we still gave them “a good run for their money” and were just edged out in the end.
When Tottenham grabbed their third through Christian Eriksen, instead of the Players hanging their heads and switching off, we showed a real fighting spirit and something Brendan Rodgers might call “Great Character”.
While aided by a Serge Aurier red card, goals from Javier Hernandez and Cheikhou Kouyate got us within sight of a point, that we just couldn’t steal in the end.
It was those types of Games at The London Stadium last season which saw us left red-faced with thrashings from the likes of Manchester City twice and Arsenal, but damage limitation was certainly something to be proud of this weekend.
The determination is also a faint sign of slight improvement from last term’s torrid campaign although there aren’t many, as four defeats in six Premier League encounters leaves us in The Relegation Zone.
Will We Ever Learn From Our Mistakes?
There may have been some improvements two days ago, but there was one old foe that arose from the graveyard of the 2016/2017 season on Saturday and that was individual mistakes.
Cast your minds back to last season, errors from the likes of Havard Nordtveit and Darren Randolph, to name and shame a few, were costing us week in week out.
Not even the Club’s “better” Players were avoiding silly mistakes with Pedro Obiang, Mark Noble, and Jose Fonte also guilty.
If you thought that we were past that, consider Saturday and the introduction of Andy Carroll, his poor pass directly resulted in us falling behind early on.
Many could have cited Fonte, Angelo Ogbonna or the sleeping Aaron Cresswell at blame for the visitors’ second and there was a general lack of reaction from the whole back four for Spurs to pull away out of sight with a fourth.
Slaven Bilic may now have to reconsider his defensive options after a sloppy performance.
But, one thing is for sure, we will need to take inspiration from our displays against Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion at the back as a tight showing is essential for the visit of The Swans.
“Dirty” Tottenham Tactics Halt Hammers
No London Derby is complete without its fair share of aggression, feistiness, and passion, but were the away Side taking matters a little too far in East London? And was Referee Michael Oliver a little too lenient?
A number of cynical fouls and flying challenges were put in by Spurs Players with no booking being produced by Oliver, some of them ended promising attacks.
Furthermore, another Talking Point at Full-Time was the late penalty claim that we had turned down by the experienced FIFA Referee. Davinson Sanchez was the subject of the controversy as he nudged Andy Carroll in the area with 96 minutes played in East London.
However, praise must be given to Oliver for correctly sending former PSG man Serge Aurier off late on for his second yellow card, after a sloppy lunge on Carroll. Additionally, Oliver dealt with several late confrontations between Players very well as the tie turned sour.
But, one must question whether there was a sinister nature to Mauricio Pochettino’s tactics to break up our usually intricate play and momentum with regular bust-ups and foul play.
So, with all of the key Talking Points from Saturday’s Derby disappointment discussed, will Bilic be able to turn the tide on Saturday against Paul Clement’s Swansea City? Or, will we be harping over negative discussion yet again?
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