Tottenham Hotspur could only manage a draw away to West Ham this evening, after grabbing the lead within the opening five minutes, with Kurt Zouma shooting off his back to level the score.
Let’s see how the individual players got on:
Guglielmo Vicario – 7 – People will point to Vicario’s lack of strength from corners again, but you must also question the defenders. Why isn’t anyone blocking him? How is Zouma able to win the ball with his back? I did, however, make some fantastic saves throughout.
Pedro Porro – 7. Johnson and I had some beautiful build-up play down the right at times, and I sent a couple of good crosses. Spurs had no difficulty defending down the right side today.
Cristian Romero – 7.5 – Had a fantastic struggle with Antonio, and Romero won in the end. I also picked up some wonderful passes between the lines at times. He cannot be singled out for this, although his mastery of his own box during set pieces may be better.
Micky Van de Ven – 7 – Returns to the starting lineup following injury. He didn’t carry the ball out of defence as well as he often does, but his hamstring made it through the 90 minutes.
Destiny Udogie – 6 – After assisting in the opening goal, he wasn’t very active on the left side of the attack. Bowen and others enjoyed attacking him. He had THE opportunity to win the game in the final minute, but it fell to his weak foot.
Yves Bissouma, 6 – I can’t put my finger on Bissouma just now. It was all very clean and tidy, but he still lacks the line-breaking runs he was making for joy in the first ten games of the season.
Rodrigo Bentancur – 6 – Contributed significantly to Tottenham’s opening goal, combining nicely with Udogie before slipping Timo Werner in down the left flank. I found some extremely dangerous balls between the lines, but I also threw the ball away several times. Quality in small bursts, lacking his usual consistency.
James Maddison – 6. He started brilliantly for the opening 20 minutes and really dictated the pace before drifting out of the game and being brought off early. Maddison is fighting to regain his pre-injury form.
Brennan Johnson – 8 – Brennan is in terrific form right now. You knew he was good for a goal today, but jumping ahead of his man and tapping in a Werner cross within 5 minutes was even better than Spurs fans imagined! He deserved a couple of assists for the crosses he was firing in.
Heung-min Son – 5 – Not involved today. His first touch was all over the place, and he appeared to be somewhat isolated in the centre. Taking Werner off and putting Son wide left was perhaps too late.
Timo Werner – 6 – Did brilliantly to blast the ball across Johnson’s face for a tap-in. Unfortunately, when the positions were changed later in the first half, Timo did not take a gamble at the back post. He was so silent after that that he wasn’t even involved after the first 20 minutes.
Substitutes:
Dejan Kulusevski – 6. Came on for another audition in his favoured number 10 position and made some decent space for the right wingers, but did little to open the door.
Pape Matar Sarr – 6 – Added extra energy in midfield, possibly indicating he should have started.
Richarlison: N/A
Giovani Lo Celso: N/A
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