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Hammers exploit the huge Spurs weakness

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By Hughie Southon

It will be very  hard for any Spurs to give us credit for a job well done this afternoon and there’s a good reason for that!

For when you have a defensive set up as poor as Mourinho has managed to put together you tend to forget that this is a vital part of the game and concentrate instead on any attacking abilities you might have.

You look to a couple of players in particular – Kane and Son, with some help eventually from Gareth Bale – to do an old West Ham on you – ‘if they get four we’ll get five.’

It never was a great basis for success and Moysie showed again today that he has the drop on virtually every other club in the league with a back three four or five to die for.

It was no surprise to see their goal come from a set piece because they were never going to break down a defence as well organised as it gets.

Just as we didn’t miss him against Sheffield United we barely noticed that Angelo Ogbonna was missing today.

When we did get forward – with Jesse Lingard usually showing the way – we always looked likely to score.

Moyes said after the game he expects more from this squad of players. It would be a brave man who disagrees..

A manager who knows exactly what he’s doing and a squad who are ready to play their guts out for him.

How long have we waited for times like these!

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Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!"

Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

11 comments

  • Graham Watts says:

    That front five of Spurs would have terrified us a couple of years ago but our resilience led magnificently by Declan in that last half hour was a joyous sight. Danced around my living room when final whistle went, not bad for a 73 year old!

  • Hammerpete says:

    We were lion hearts for sure, but into the final third of the match it was clear that they had five across the front to our back four. Thankfully DM brought on Magic Johnson to spread the load. Not many teams can hold out against Bale and Son on the flanks with Kane, Alli and Lucas through the middle. We rode our luck, but played superbly too. COYI.

  • Pbo says:

    Can’t help but think lingards goal wouldn’t have been given last season…you know when we weren’t a big club 🤣

  • GaryD says:

    Hugh, where can we get the picture of the band playing? Would make a great background for my computer (yes, I could lift it, but it is someone’s work).

  • GaryD says:

    It was a little nervy at the end.
    Spurs looked the better team for the last 25 minutes.
    Ours to win, we did.

  • Del PE. says:

    Gosh let’s be brutally honest here, yes we scored 2 goals, (well taken for sure, var on our side for a change) we rode our luck massively at times, our ball retention was poor during the second half… Cresswell was caught napping yet again defensively.. We won because we played with our hearts on our sleeves, players playing for the badge which is all you can ask for.. Let’s not get “big headed” stay humble and enjoy the ride… Wow they hit the woodwork twice, Kane thank goodness shaved the goal twice, Fabianski made some great saves, whilst Lloris wasn’t really troubled besides the goals but who cares we won, let’s not get carried away!!!!

    • NYWHU says:

      I agree, this is a game that could easily have gone the other way. The last half hour kept me on the edge of my seat. We’ve lost some games like that ourselves this year, so it’s nice to be on the other end, but let’s not make more of it than it deserves.

      As you say, Hugh, Moyes has got the WHU defense spectacularly well organized, and that’s largely responsible for us riding high in 4th place. But offensively there remains much room for improvement. Lingard is a fantastic addition to the squad, but we continue to have trouble moving the ball forward, and both Bowen and Fornals, for all they contribute, have a hard time finishing. Many an opportunity dies on their boots in the opponent’s box.

      Moyes keeps saying that there’s room for improvement, so I’m sure he’s working on this. I’m optimistic that we’ll continue to get better and hang on to our CL place. COYI!

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