for their cup final.
The arrival of Spurs at the London stadium actually saw some atmosphere as they beat the hosts in their highlight of the season.
A big thank you has to go out to the home manager, Bilic, and home favourite lump Andy Carroll for this victory. Well played lads.
The opening I’ve read was all West Ham apparently. Well they had some ball and were attacking but Hugo wasn’t exactly busy. The player a number of Spurs fans are blaming for letting WH back into the game, Aurier, with one beautiful tackle was seeing to that. Yeah he had a grab of Arnautovic’s shirt but that didn’t impede the Austrian.
Then with Antonio’s injury, Bilic made his cracking change. From wanting to play football to wanting it lumped up to the big lumper.
The big lumper though showed off his footballing skills with a blind pass infield to Eriksen, he played it to the charging Dele and his cross was pinpoint onto Harry’s head. Into the corner to give Hart no chance.
Minutes later the big lumper dithered on a lump up the park, Jan nipped in, nicked the ball off him and was off himself. Eriksen flicks the ball over his head back to Jan and Dele is charging and pointing where he wants it, Jan puts it there the shot is stopped but Harry, all on his lonesome, bangs in the rebound.
Their cup final was turning into a damp squib.
Fifteen minutes into the second half it looked to be all over. A glorious free kick from Kane, from wide left hit Hart’s left hand post. Coming out to Aurier his cross was charged down the ball falling to Eriksen and his sweet strike saw the third goal.
That should have been that.
Now later on that night on Match of the Day, Danny Murphy praised Sissoko for his performance. Saying he was a lot better now he was in the middle. This praise was accompanied by some video highlights, which basically showed the French player running about, him losing the ball and generally contributing very little bar putting the poor man’s Scott Parker, Noble, in his place.
Which leads us to the first goal against. From a corner headed across the box, Sissoko is marking Chicharito but then decides to go on a wander leaving the Mexican to nod in their first.
Much talk about what is wrong with Dele so far this season. Well being surrounded by defenders doesn’t help his game. He contributed well with the two assists, coming from deepish running into space. Would it not be preferable to drop him into that deeper midfield position when Dembele isn’t available and play Son alongside Kane, than hinder Dele with defenders and hinder the team with Sissoko?
The one getting the blame for West Ham’s second was the new boy wing-back Aurier. Due to his sending off. Was that second yellow stupid and needless? Well only because he didn’t get the ball. It was roughly the same area of the ground where Jan took a chance that led to the second. Vertonghen misses that, who knows. Aurier’s sliding tackle cones off who knows what it leads to.
His first yellow, was that even a foul never mind a card?
Saw some really stupid right ups of the player’s game before that. The Myth of Kyle Walker. His positional sense, well I was watching him as close as possible and he looked spot on. In defence he didn’t wander off his man the way Walker and attacking, well Walker usually played the ball off and then meandered normally inside, leaving acres of space out wide and nobody to play it out to there. Aurier as soon as he passed the ball was hugging the touchline.
He played in one glorious cross that Kane buggered up. Correctly flagged offside, if he’d stayed on it would have been a tap in instead of behind him, for him to fluff it.
Me I prefer a defender who likes a tackle and the ball at his feet and not a Walker who did his utmost to not kick the ball, preferring to shield with his fat arse and hope it ran out of play and whose defending was generally a last ditch scramble.
They got another after Aurier’s departure. But persistent lumps into the box only paid off the once. They of course took to moaning about decision, forgetting the trip on Dele in the box that should have seen a Spurs penalty.
And in the dying minutes Llorente did a magnificent wind up job on the hobby lot. Though why he got yellow, I don’t know, for being grabbed by the throat I take it. Chicharito showed his frustration throughout after being shunted out wide to accommodate the big lumper and should have seen red along with Reid.
So things are really different from last season, Spurs can only win away from home and Harry can only score braces not hat-tricks.
Wonder if Aurier’s suspension has muddled things for Pochettino, was he planning on using Trippier for the “easier” CL game midweek and Aurier in the following league game? Will that be switched, well the latter will have to be.