Tottenham 4-1 West Ham (Kulusevski 36’, Bissouma 52’, Todibo OG 55’, Son 60’ | Kudus 18’)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR – The roar came with a crescendo: two gasps, one for a knock against either post, only a belated realisation that a vintage Dejan Kulusevski equaliser has eventually crossed the line.
At Tottenham, they know better than to get too excited without a little trepidation. If they did not already feel that way, the worst defeat of Ange Postecoglou’s reign a fortnight ago at Brighton will have convinced them. With the possible exception of Erik ten Hag, no manager in the Premier League attracts a level of soul-searching quite like it after every setback.
And still, at its best, Ange-ball remains a force so potent it can leave a side as vulnerable as West Ham wishing they had never bothered to return after the international break. Few have been humbled quite like Mohammed Kudus commandeering a ball-boy’s chair to celebrate on after scoring the opening goal, before earning a late red card for striking not one but two players – Micky van de Ven and Pape Matar Sarr – in the face.
This was nothing short of humiliation and the only consolation was that by then, the damage had been done by a surge of three goals in eight second-half minutes. It did not need to be this way, for Julen Lopetegui had known how vulnerable Spurs can be, their inclination for the attack to give with one hand and for the defence to take away with the other.
Indeed West Ham had taken the lead partly because Destiny Udogie was too slow to react to Jarrod Bowen wriggling through the box – eight touches, in all – but also because of a lost 1v1 with Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the edge of the area. Postecoglou had highlighted those duels as the main reason for the surrender at Brighton too; fitness and physicality are the variables they can control, so those are the ones to master first. Everything else can feel a week-by-week “see what happens”.
Kulusevski’s role
One of the few constants, however, is Kulusevski, Tottenham’s Player of the Season so far, unquestionably. An element lost with the departure of Harry Kane was the England captain’s deeper play, but the Swede is willing to do the hard yards and much of his creativity came from the middle, not just out wide.
A more central role has been key to reviving his Spurs career – it has been a strange trajectory. In his Players’ Tribune interview earlier this year, there was no overwhelming theme of struggle but he opened up for the first time on his mental difficulties at Juventus, and the catastrophic knocks his confidence can take when he is off form.
Postecoglou has not received enough credit for getting the best out of him, not least when the decision to use him in a midfield three has invited him into the centre of the pitch and he no longer feels as if he is left floundering on the wing.
A huge call on Maddison
The other decisive element was the bold decision to take off James Maddison at half time, even after he had created five chances and an assist. The run from within his own half to tee up Kulusevski’s goal was Maddison at his best, even if he looked like a reincarnation of Christian Eriksen from the 12 corners Spurs took in the first half.
Sarr replaced him and immediately the midfield was more compact and organised. That is no reflection on Maddison himself, but the rotation set Spurs on their way to a quickfire blitz.
Udogie’s penance for his earlier struggles was an exquisite flick back to Yves Bissouma, whose first-time finish was about to open the floodgates as West Ham lost their heads.
Jean-Clair Todibo’s own goal was of the kind that can only attract a mixture of sympathy and bewilderment in equal measure, an awkward bounce off Alphonse Areola after a tame shot from Son Heung-min. Then Son had his goal too on his return from injury, four stepovers bamboozling Todibo again for good measure.
West Ham really ought to count themselves lucky it wasn’t more. Postecoglou finally has his first win in a London derby, and a fresh blueprint of what Tottenham are capable of when they turn on the style.
