Three talking points from the loss against Tottenham

Tottenham 3-2 West Ham. With a loss, we are only one point clear of the relegation zone. Here are three things we learnt…

Poor tactical decisions cost us the game

We lost the lead in the game twice. Yes, twice. In a game of this magnitude, given how our season has been going, it’s simply unacceptable. When Manuel Lanzini scored that penalty it was clear that we would be sitting back for the rest of the game with Tottenham throwing everything at us but Slaven Bilic’s decisions just made it easier for them.

Simone Zaza was brought on, having done little all season, and as expected, had no impact on the game. He should have played Dimitri Payet through on goal earlier on and that could have put us 3-1 up. Havard Nordtveit was brought on in the 84th minute to strengthen the defence only to give away a penalty after his rash challenge. Should James Collins have come on instead?

Michail Antonio proves his worth once again

We all know that Antonio did not have the greatest of starts to the season. After appearing at right-back frequently throughout last season, he started there against Chelsea in our opening game though was subbed off after 52 minutes. It looked like his confidence was shot and he was a shadow of the player he was last season. But once again, Antonio proved his worth after scoring the opening goal. Although he had not scored in his last six games in the league, it’s clear that he is now getting back to his best. He does still have defensive duties but we are now seeing him getting into the box more and the move to a 3-4-3 is paying off, for him at least. With only five players having scored more than him this season, how can we complain?

Darren Randolph failed to take his opportunity

I wrote in my preview piece for this game that we could see Adrian get dropped for Darren Randolph and Bilic was brave enough to make that call in today’s game. Now Adrian is a fine keeper but there’s no denying that he was costing us crucial points. Randolph has performed well when he has played and he did have a good game right up until he touched the ball into the path of Kane, only for Kane to equalise. Let’s not forget that he made a brilliant save prior to Harry Winks’ goal and his stunning save with his left foot from Eric Dier’s header prevented Tottenham from going ahead. But those mean nothing when you make the mistake that he did and it wouldn’t be a surprise should Adrian return next game.