OPINION
West Ham went head to head with a Tottenham side that had won their last three league games on the bounce on Saturday and couldn’t ruin their rivals run.
Saturday’s game was the Hammers’ first at the London Stadium since their comfortable victory over Manchester United at that ground, and Manuel Pellegrini would have learnt a lot from his side’s performance.
The Hammers and Spurs both battled for possession in the first-half but with no clear chances being created it the early stages.
However Erik Lamela gave Spurs a 1-0 lead, which they clung to, before the half-time break and his side didn’t look back from there, despite the Hammers’ best efforts.
Forever West Ham have picked out three things we learned about West Ham after their clash with Spurs below:
Yarmolenko’s lack of tracking back
Andri Yarmolenko appears to be a luxury player the Hammers can’t afford to carry, especially when playing a powerful side like Tottenham. The 28-year-old winger arrived in the Premier League this summer and it seems he hasn’t realise that he has to help his full-back. Pablo Zabaleta was situated behind Yarmolenko against Spurs and was regularly doubled team as his teammate hadn’t run back to help him deal with the opponent’s attacking threat. However it was a sad sight to see injury get the better of him before the half-time whistle and he will be a big miss for the Hammers if he is set for a significant spell on the sidelines.
Left-back still an issue for Pellegrini
Oh Aaron Cresswell. The left-back was an offered a rare opportunity to impress on Saturday and he didn’t exactly takes his chance. The position of left-back is clearly headache for Pellegrini and it was one that Spurs exposed. Cresswell has hardly been seen this season with Arthur Masuaku preferred ahead of him but the English defender looked as much a liability as his teammate. The 28-year-old was nowhere to be found when Moussa Sissoko was bursting down the left-flank ahead of crossing the ball into the box for Lamela to turn home as it was Felipe Anderson who was trying to stop him, not Cresswell. The defender was constantly caught out of position and it seems that Pellegrini needs to buy a new left-back to solve his headache.
Anderson too inconsistent
Felipe Anderson didn’t play the full 90 minutes but it’s clear Pellegrini made the right decision to drag him off when he did. The Brazilian winger arguably should take some blame for the Hammers’ opening goal and didn’t offer much going forward either. Anderson didn’t seem to get out of third gear and it seems his form is just inconsistent as he’ll dazzle in one game before being absolutely pointless in the next. The 25-year-old winger bordered on being invisible against Spurs on Saturday and you have to wonder whether he can be counted on to deliver the goods for the Hammers across this season when you consider you can not be sure if he’s going to turn up and deliver the performances he is capable of.
