Tottenham got off to a hot start only to see their efforts run out of steam in a draw away at West Ham on Tuesday. The Spurs got off to a hot start with a Brennan Johnson goal in the 5th minute. West Ham found the equalizer later in the first half and the score remained the same through the rest of the match. Here are my initial thoughts after the match.
Johnson Continues To Perform
Brennan Johnson continued his good run of form in this one. Werner set him up terrifically to just tap the ball into the net in the 5th minute. Johnson continued to be a menace down the side causing a the West Ham defense a decent amount of problems with his speed. He continued to play well, but had to come off the pitch injured in the 90th minute. I honestly didn’t think that it looked too bad, so hopefully he will be good to go against his old club on Sunday.
Return Of VDV
It was great to have Micky Van De Ven back after he missed a few weeks with a hamstring injury. I understand why Ange held him out over the weekend in order to make sure he was good to go today. Spurs definitely have more pace when VDV plays. That’s not a knock on Dragusin either. Dragusin did well in VDV’s absence, but Spurs definitely have more pace to them when VDV is there. VDV did pick up a bit of a careless yellow card, but he played well otherwise. He should be good to go for the Forest match on Sunday.
Set Pieces Are A Problem
Teams seem to have figured out what to do to Tottenham on set pieces. Get near Vicario and bully him. Vicario can’t quite seem to deal with that physicality at the moment. It also doesn’t help that a lot of the Tottenham defenders seemed content to not really challenge the guys they were marking either. There’s just too much standing around on set pieces. At least the lads looked more prepared for them in the second half, but set pieces are still a problem the team needs to get figured out. I love Vicario, but this is easily the weakest part of his game at the moment.
Disappointing Second Half
Tottenham looked solid in the first half, but looked gassed in the second half. The team movement and ball movement weren’t as sharp and the lads looked like their legs were heavy. I get it seeing as they played on Saturday, but West Ham has had European soccer this season and Tottenham should have taken advantage of that. There also didn’t seem to be a sense of urgency in the second half, which helped lead to the draw. Still, taking a point at West Ham is not a bad result. I just hoped for more.
Madders Can’t Buy A Foul
James Maddison played a solid game. I do get concerned with his durability as teams beat up on him quite a bit. West Ham played a very physical match, but they really seemed to go after Madders. There was one play in the second half that should have resulted in a Tottenham free kick just outside the box, but the ref seemed content to let the game play on. That play almost led to a great break for West Ham, but thankfully nothing came of it. Hopefully the league will keep a closer eye on how physical players are against Madders. Hopefully Madders can stay healthy the rest of the way in.
Champions League Hopes Take A Hit
The draw at West Ham is disappointing, especially considering the opportunity Spurs had to get level with Villa on points. With the draw result, Tottenham remains 2 points back of Villa with 8 matches to play. Tottenham is about to run the gauntlet of matches against the top 3 clubs in the league starting later this month. Spurs will have to play as close to perfect as possible in order to have a chance for Champions League play next season. Still, if Tottenham only get Europa League, I would consider that a successful first campaign for Big Ange Postecoglu. He really has Spurs playing with a more positive vibe and belief this season than we have seen in recent years.
Next Up: Spurs return home for a match against Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Spurs will face former manager Nuno Espirito Santo and Brennan Johnson will face his old club if he is healthy enough to go.
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