OPINION
West Ham were looking to get one over their London rivals Tottenham on Saturday when they hosted them at the London Stadium and couldn’t achieve that goal.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side last outing ahead of the clash with Spurs was a disappointing affair from their perspective as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat courtesy of Brighton and their run of luck didn’t improve.
There were several positive glimpses of talent for the Hammers in the first-half but with no clear-cut chances created then it was not a surprise when Spurs took the lead through Erik Lamela before the half-time break.
Then despite the best efforts of Pellegrini’s side, the Hammers just couldn’t get an equaliser.
Forever West Ham has awarded every player a rating for their performance during the 1-0 defeat to Spurs with a liability struggling to a 3/10 display, while one shined in a 9/10.
Goalkeeper and defence
Lukasz Fabianski – 8 – Did well with the little danger he had to deal with in the first-half and made several fantastic saves to stop Spurs extending their lead as the game went on.
Pablo Zabaleta – 7 – No nonsense defending in first-half on a few occasion to aid his side’s cause. Wasn’t aided by Andriy Yarmolenko in front of him and did well.
Fabian Balbuena – 7 – Solid, has a great understanding with Issa Diop and looked an aerial threat from set-pieces anytime the Hammers had one.
Issa Diop – 9 – Solid and always tried to clear the ball to launch his side on the attack. Amazing tackle in the first-half to deny Harry Kane a golden opportunity. Constantly stepped up to aid his team, looked amazing despite being on the losing side.
Aaron Cresswell – 3 – Could have done better for Tottenham’s goal but wasn’t helped by Felipe Anderson’s terrible efforts to help him defend, however you have to question how he found himself so far out of position. Played in a nice cross for Marko Arnautovic to try to head home. Absolute woeful generally though, struggled to get a 3/10.
Midfield
Declan Rice – 7 – Quiet but effective, does his job to perfection and was calming presence in midfield.
Robert Snodgrass – 5 – Had a cracking effort near the end of the first-half as he powerfully unleashed a shot, however didn’t do much else.
Mark Noble – 4 – Some neat touches but looked a yard-off keeping up with Spurs midfield, no surprise that Spurs’ midfield were able to get the upper hand. Took too long on the ball.
Attack
Andriy Yarmolenko – 5 – Allowed Ben Davies to get past him on the flank with not much hassle in early stages of the match. However the attacking side of his game looked good as he looked a handful when the Hammers were attacking. Big shame when the club lost him to injury just before the half-time break.
Felipe Anderson – 4 – Bordered on invisible, didn’t seem to build a rapport with Cresswell. Moussa Sissoko tore him apart before the end of the first-half to fire in the cross for Erik Lamela to easily turn home. Went close from a Noble cross in the second-half.
Marko Arnautovic – 7 – Carelessly gave the ball away in opening minutes and then had a very quiet first-half. Nearly scored as soon as the second-half got underway, after Cresswell played in a great pass. Arnautovic will be wondering how he didn’t score after coming alive in the second-half, he had some very good efforts at goal.
Substitutes
Grady Diangana (On 41) for Yarmolenko – 6 – Showed glimpses of his talents, but a hard game to shine in, by all accounts.
Javier Hernandez (On 58) for Anderson – 6 – Needs to make more of his cameo appearances by carving out his own chances, but did do well in the play building up to the moment he thought had scored before the offside flag went up.
Michail Antonio (on 70) for Noble – 6- Just like Hernandez needs to make more of his minutes, but did standout when entering the game as he was heavily involved in the Hammers’ last ditch attacks.
