Three talking points from West Ham's draw at Tottenham
Tottenham 1-1 West Ham. Pedro Obiang’s thunderous strike saw us get a point and we now move to 15th in the Premier League. Here are three talking points from the game:
It was not pretty, but it was effective
We knew what to expect coming into the game and our performance was certainly not pretty. We were sat in our own half, near our own box, for the majority of the game, with Tottenham comfortable in possession. But it is clear that the players have bought into David Moyes‘ plan for these big games and executed it well.
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Tottenham v West Ham – how the match unfolded
READ MORE: Obiang and Son go spectacular in derby draw
Our defensive organisation was once again excellent and Declan Rice, in particular, has to be praised for his great performance. It was difficult for him under Slaven Bilic, but he has shown that he is good enough to start for West Ham in recent games and he should be given more chances.
We need to buy an attacker in January
When the starting XI was announced, every West Ham fan feared the worst. There was no Marko Arnautovic in the squad and Moyes did later mention that he had an injury. His absence was evident and we lacked attacking options during the game. We needed someone who was confident at taking the ball up the pitch besides Manuel Lanzini, and the lack of options harmed us.
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Javier Hernandez was poor tonight, though given the way we set up, it is hard to expect a significant contribution. West Ham have to buy another attacker in January to reduce the reliance on Lanzini and Arnautovic. But it is always a difficult market and it remains to be seen whether we do go for anyone.
Back on track?
Moyes continued his fantastic record in big games for West Ham tonight, but it is what comes next which will define our fate this season. We cannot slip into old habits and drop points in the Premier League ‘six-pointers’. The win over Chelsea in December was shortly followed by a loss to Newcastle and draw to Bournemouth.
Our next game against a big side is Liverpool at the end of February, but our fixture list prior to that gives us a great chance to get into the top half of the Premier League – four of the five teams are in the bottom half and three of the games are at home. We are in the perfect position to get back on track and ease our relegation fears.
