If West Ham thought things couldn’t get much worse after the demoralising 4-1 defeat to Spurs, then think again.
West Ham have been left licking their wounds after the horror show against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Hammers have been seriously tough opposition for Spurs in recent years.
Given what the fixture means to both sets of fans, showing passion and being competitive should be a given.
Things started well for Julen Lopetegui’s side when Mohammed Kudus put them in front after 18 minutes.
What followed was simply unacceptable, though.
Tottenham levelled, deservedly, before the break. But West Ham were still in a good position for a positive result away from home.
What Postecoglou said about West Ham is shameful
However, the second half was an abomination as West Ham shipped three goals in eight minutes.
It could and should have been four goals in nine minutes but Tottenham captain Son Heung-min struck the inside of the post and it stayed out.
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West Ham had no chance of getting back in the match. But Kudus made sure of it when he “floored” three Tottenham players before being sent off.
Word from former referee Mike Dean after the game is that Kudus will be banned for six games over the incident.
The result and performance against West Ham’s fiercest Premier League rivals has piled the pressure back on Lopetegui.
As a result it has eased on Ange Postecoglou, who continued to play that controversial high line.
London derbies between West Ham and Tottenham should always be tight affairs.
Something is wrong if they aren’t.
Spurs boss rubs salt in the wound for Hammers
So what Spurs boss Postecoglou told his in-house media team about West Ham is just plain shameful.
Usually managers wheel out the usual platitudes about one another and the opposite team pre and post match.
They don’t tend to rub salt in the wound after a win.
But Postecoglou’s comments to Spurs’ media team after the victory should be played to Lopetegui and his players. Because if they don’t spark a reaction to restore some pride, nothing will.
Postecoglou said his team just ‘blew West Ham away’.
His assessment of what West Ham had to offer was nothing more than ‘a bit of an arm wrestle in the first half’.
And he added that it should have been 5 or 6-1 to Spurs.
Hang your heads in shame West Ham
“I thought the boys were good today,” Postecoglou told the Spurs media team.
“They (West Ham) gave us a bit of an arm wrestle in the first half – they’re a tough team to play against (because) they’ve got some physicality that you have to deal with. Disappointing goal we let in but I thought the response to that was good…
“Second half we were really, really dominant and showing all the facets of our game that we needed to…
“We could tell if we went up a gear (we could win the game). We scored the goals, probably could have had a couple more. Sometimes we haven’t capitalised on those moments and kept the opposition in it but we kind of blew them away.”
Hang your heads is shame West Ham.
For a Tottenham manager to be able to come out and saw his team blew West Ham away and should have won 5 or 6-1 is utterly embarrassing.
Lopetegui has to put this right.
West Ham folded like a house of cards and not for the first time under the Spaniard.
He is meant to be getting more out of the players not less.