Righto, that’ll be us. Thanks for your company and comments; enjoy the rest of the weekend, and stick with us for the best bits of it.
And here’s Jonathan Liew’s report from the London Stadium.
Here’s Nick Ames’ report from Brentford v Leicester...
“Down to the manager I’m afraid.” says Yash Gupta. “You can’t wait 83 minutes to make a change. Bring Lo Celso and Gil early and who knows what would’ve happened?”
I agree. By the looks of things, Nuno was happy with 0-0 because in the second half, Spurs looked unlikely to get anything better, and he just let things slide.
I’ve just seen Tielemans’ goal for Leicester; it’s an absolute zetz, it really is. Recommended.
So where to now for Spurs? Ultimately, Ndombele needs to do more – more goals, more assists – to justify his position, but he needs help from Skipp and Hojbjerg, who can’t just sit there. Similarly, Reguilon and Emerson need to offer more in attack, because at the moment, Spurs are basically hoping for a counter or an error when with the players they’ve got, they should be looking to dominate.
Leicester have beaten Brentford 2-1, and that’s a great result for them. They’re up to ninth now and have got their season going this last week; like West Ham, they’ve won thrice.
It really is impossible to overstate the brilliance of the job David Moyes is doing at West Ham. No one – his players, his supporters, the rest of us – are remotely surprised to see them win again, and he’s turned a famously-flaky club into one of the most brutally reliable around.
And for those who are still hatred-poor - ok, that’s all of us - there’s the small matter of this:
Elsewhere, a couple of other little tussles for our delectation:
“Just go and attack the ball, son!” says Graeme Souness of Hazza Kane’s defending, noting that he was more concerned with stopping Antonio getting to the ball than getting to it himself. He did very little today, admittedly with very little; you can’t have a midfield as stodgy as Spurs’ without getting more creativity from your full-backs.
Full-time: West Ham United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
That’s a bazzing win for West Ham, who’ve won thrice in a week and are now in the top four. Spurs, meanwhile, were very disappointing and slip to sixth.
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90+3 min In co-comms, Andy Hinchcliffe gives Aaron Cresswell his man of the match award. Can’t argue with that.
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90+1 min “When Mrs H and I got married” returns Dawud Haris, “her parents were mollified by my name being easily Islamified.”
It’s so interesting how all the different cultures and religions share names, but with little tweaks.
90 min There’ll be three added minutes.
90 min West Ham send on Dawson for Bowen, while Spurs replace Moura with Bergwijn. I’m not sure why you’d wait until injury-time to perform the latter, but here we are.
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89 min I guess that’s why I found him a curious appointment. Spurs’ owners aren’t going to finance a title bid and the standard has improved a lot since Pochettino mustered one anyway, so why not pick a manager who wants to play exciting football? It makes no sense, because the locals need placating somehow, and the promise of entertainment is the best way of doing that.
88 min I know a team needs to be balanced, but I don’t get why Nuno took off Ndombele with so little time left against a side backing themselves to sit on their lead. What’s the worst that could happen? What’re the chances Skipp or Hojbjerg get his side back into this?
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86 min Spurs have mustered almost nothing this half, and the cube root of nothing since going behind. Their front three have been static, but there’s also been a lack of midfield imagination.
85 min Bowen, who’s put in another punishing shift, robs Son and runs away from him, but right as he enters the box Son retorts and recovers possession.
84 min Ch-ch-changes: Lo Celso and Gil replace Ndombele and Reguilon; Lanzini replaces Benrahma.
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83 min Skipp allows a ball on the line to run out of play, but right as it crosses the line, Antonio barges him off it, feeding Benrahma; Lloris comes out to narrow what’s already a tight angle, blocking the shot.
81 min Lucas Moura slides a ball out right for Emerson, but Cresswell reads it like it’s Biff and Chip, inserting a leg and bringing his team away. Spurs are struggling to exert any prolonged pressure, and West Ham have done a really good job of excluding Son and Kane from the game.
79 min I know that crossing is a skill, but it does seem like one most corner-takers don’t practise enough, because it goes wrong so often. I’m not saying Cresswell and Bowen aren’t really good – they are – but it’s hard to believe they’re as much better than the rest as it seems.
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78 min Ad back to potential changes, Giovani Lo Celso was the other bright spark in Spurs’ midweek defeat. I’d be tempted to get him involved – but I’d leave Ndombele on, as West Ham will likely sit back not look for a clincher – and replace Moura with Gil.
77 min Back at Brentford, James Maddison has put Leicester back in front.
75 min Ndombele has all but disappeared for Spurs, returns Rick Harris, who we can call Rick Brewster, which was his mum’s maiden name – similarly, I can be Harriç, which was my pre-Anglicization name – “and surely Nuno needs to make changes to avoid the inevitable West Ham goal you sense is coming. Dele is surely the only real option on the Spurs bench likely to change the match in their favour.”
I felt miserable watching him tramp about the pitch the other night; he used to be so much fun and so full of attitude and mischief, but now he just looks despondent. I hope he leaves Spurs in January because he needs a fresh start.
74 min West Ham have been the better side over the last 15 minutes, and if they can hang on, they’re going fourth – at least for a couple of hours.
GOAL! West Ham United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Antonio 72)
THEY’VE DONE IT AGAIN! Cresswell sends over another vicious corner, swinging out but not leaving the six-yard box, and when Moura, Skipp and Soucek all miss it at the front post, Antonio reacts brilliantly while Kane snoozes, poking home a ball he won’t have seen until it was punkt on his toe.
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71 min Reguilon does really well to intercept Fornals’ pass for Bowen, then dithers and Fornals snaps back, his shot deflected wide.
70 min Antonio has wheels and gives Dier two yards then powers past in search of a long hump down the line; Lloris charges out to clatter man and ball after the traditional fashion.
68 min “Watching this in the Harris bar in my hotel in Funchal,” says Ian Sargeant. “Cagey game. 50:50 in terms of supporters. All agreed that the flag on Antonio should have gone up 45 seconds before it did.”
Ah man, what I’d not give for a cold bottle of Superbock right now, though I daresay my words might become even more intelligible – even less telligible – than previously.
66 min Antonio boots through Hojbjerg in what looked a fair challenge to me. But Hojbjerg, who actually lives round my way, takes exception; I’ll advise him to the contrary at the next neighbourhood watch meeting.
65 min “Do you wish you were doing the Leicester game instead?!” asks Lisa H, presumably because Mathias Jorgensen has just equalised for Brentford. As it goes, this hasn’t been bad, but a goal for one or t’other would not be unwelcome.
63 min West Ham are coming, Rice driving through Moura and sticking in behind for Antonio – eventually. Because of that, his mate’s offside, so his cross behind everyone doesn’t mater, but that’s a warning for Spurs, who are fading.
62 min The first ball is cleared as far as Zouma, who has to take a touch before shooting and is quickly crowded out.
61 min Eesh, Cresswell leaps for a high ball, diving over the top of Moura – who does not back in to harrykane him, I don’t think – but he gets hurt nevertheless. The ref meanwhile, awards a free-kick and this is dangerous; Cresswell will swing out from down the left, close to the corner of the box.
59 min Just when I was fearing I’d oversold this, we get a touch of exactly what NO ONE wants to see, Romero booting Fornals’ legs away from him, just about fairly, when when his man stays down, leaning over him to disburse some gentle invective. There’s a brief huddle, as players from both sides add their thoughts, then we’re back underway with Romero booked.
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57 min I wonder what Moyes might do to change this, but hang on a minute, Bowen races down the right and crosses well ... but Antonio can’t quite furrow his brow sufficiently to head home, then Benraham recovers possession and tees up Fornals, only for someone, Hojbjerg I think, to slide in and save the day. Then Spurs race down the other and and Son, out on the right, looks to cross for Kane, but Fabianski reads his intention and smothers easily enough.
55 min Spurs are again allowed to play out, and I wonder why that is; West Ham have the athletes to press, and I doubt Eric Dier fancies being double-teamed when trying to pick a pass.
54 min There’s decent tempo and intensity to this, but the quality is still lacking. West Ham need to get Fornals and Benrahma involved, otherwise they’re waiting for a long ball, a mistake or a set-piece.
52 min This is better from Spurs; I wonder if Skipp’s been told to gamble because here he is again, alongside Kane and driving wide from 15 yards, right-hand side of the box. Rice didn’t know what to do there, faced with two men attacking him, and if Spurs are to win here, ganging up on him like that is a good plan.
51 min Now it’s West Ham who attack, Antonio barrelling down the right and just failing to thread a pass into Bowen, arriving alongside him.
50 min The corner comes to nothing.
49 min Spurs are growing in confidence here, tapping it about at the back trying to draw West Ham onto them, and here they come, Ndombele jinking in midfield to find Moura, and when he goes wide to Reguilon, the first-time cross arrives ... but it’s too hard and at too awkward a height for Skipp, who somehow gets ahead of it nevertheless, and West Ham concede a corner.
47 min Hello! Skipp, who’s been quiet, carries the ball into midfield then steps right, changing the focus of the attack and sliding a terrific ball out to Ndombele down the right ... and Kane is in the middle! But the cross is a careless one – that’s what was talking about – and Fabianski dives upon it. Though the chance never existed, that was a really good chance nevertheless.
46 min The second half is just getting underway at Brentford too; the home side still trail Leicester 0-1.
46 min We go again. This is David Moyes 997th match as a manager, a decent little effort.
Back come our teams...
“So I, David Harris, emailed you, Daniel Harris, about a band led by Steve Harris, and the next email is from Rick Harris...” says, er, David Harris. “Is there something with the Graun’s filters that only comments involving our surname get through the firewall?”
You’re going to die when I tell you what my old fella’s called, Cuz.
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And another: “I don’t expect this to make the cut,” says a man who doesn’t understand desperation, “but as a Scottish person myself, I can guarantee that the word sore is always preceded by the phrase “That was [expletive redacted]...”
I always like Irvine Welsh’s “a right sair yin” – which I think he uses to describe a friendly greeting from Begbie, who gives one of his mates a dig of some sort.
Half-time email: “For reasons I can only guess at,” says Rick Harris of reason I explained, “you seem to feel the need to drag Paul Pogba into your observations of a game that doesn’t involve him – not once, but twice. The last time I looked Pogba was top of this season’s goal assists chart so while like all creative players his passes don’t always come off, he is far more effective than he is given credit for. Ndombele is playing in the wrong team.”
Again, I mentioned Pogba because Ndombele reminds me of him: a players with phenomenal feet and a phenomenal appreciation of space who, if he could be more useful when not being brilliant, would be among the best players in the world. As for the assist thing, I agree with Pogba’s manager:
“What does an assist consist of? A square pass and Bruno hits the top corner or when Paul plays a great pass through and Mason runs through? ... Paul has always been a great passer, one of the best in European football, and he’s not got assists from his best passes this season. I don’t pay attention to assists, it’s a social media thing.”
Half-time: West Ham United 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Both sides had decent chances, but neither is firing. I’d expect to see improved versions of both after the break.
45 min There’ll be one added minute.
44 min The corner is easily cleared.
43 min My guess is Nuno is the happier of the managers currently ... and he’s almost delighted, Hojbjerg redeeming an error from Skipp and moving the ball onto Reguilon. He has a look, sees Kane in a back-post mismatch with Cresswell, and stands up a cross onto which Kane powers, clouting a header that Fabianski shovels over the bar. Either side of him, and that was 1-0.
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41 min Antonio pulls right and buffets Royal then Rmoero, takes the ball infield, cutting across the box. But Dier does well to stand up, closing the shooting lane and forcing him to power wide.
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40 min Reguilon tries a low cross which Bowen blocks back to him, so he nips inside and goes again on his right foot, chipping one up that Ndombele arrives onto! But, though he makes decent contact, he can only head straight at Fabianski.
39 min I remember listening to radio report not that long ago in which a Scottish linguistics expert noted that she pronounces soar, saw and sore differently, whereas people from London say each identically.
38 min Son coaxes the free-kick towards the penalty spot and Antonio heads out to Ndombele, who cuts across the bouncing ball, his shot flicking Zoma and soaring over the bar. The resultant corner comes to nowt.
36 min Ndombele nicks a bouncing ball away from Ogbonna, who leaves studs on him and is booked.
36 min “Iron Maiden are a bit more than definitely Hammers,” says David Harris. “Steve Harris had trials with them as a schoolboy and has the (old) club badge on his basses; the band’s football team play in claret & blue (Def Leppard play in a Sheff Utd-ish strip), and there’s usually a West Ham reference in the album cover artwork and sleevenotes, even an ‘Up the Irons’ in the run-off in the days of vinyl.”
Supporting the Irons is a bit like being placed inside an iron maiden, I shouldn’t wonder.
35 min We’re getting a bit of tempo now, Cresswell finding Fornals down the left ... and the resultant cross is a goodun, picking out Soucek! But he gets under the ball to head high! That wasn’t an easy finish, but we have good reason to expect better from yerman.
33 min Soucek flips a first-time volley out to Johnson, skipping down the right, and he smacks across a shot that scooshes wide of the near post.
32 min There’s not loads going on here. Spurs need to get Kane into the game is what I keep thinking, but perhaps he’s been reminded to stay upfield and that he’s not Juan Roman Riquelme.
30 min “As a huge Spurs and Maiden fan,” confesses Andy O’Dell, “I find myself conflicted on these games, Maiden have their own football team and line of footy kits badged as Die With Your Boots On in a nod to one of their classic late 80s tracks – you can see the kit here. But really I just want Spurs to finally feel like they are a coherent team again!”
“Again?” is the hilariously witty response I’d like to give here, but Mauricio Pochettino has ruined that for me. I hope he’s proud of himself.
28 min Now it’s a while since West Ham got anything going. Broadly speaking, the teams are cancelling each other out.
26 min “One problem with conventional English football thinking is that the concept ‘intensity’ is still only comprehended in terms of Sturm und drang; blood, sweat and tears,” says Cian O’Mahony.
I can only speak for myself, but I think that’s part of it, but it’s about mentality as much as physicality, turning up and staying focused for every minute of every game. Both Pogba and Ndombele flit in and out and are too careless in and out of possession for players so technically and intellectually gifted.
25 min And here they come, Son touching off for Ndombele then getting on his bike, taking a beautifully-measured return into stride before a phalanx of defenders crowd him out and his forces a shot that Fabianski saves easily enough.
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24 min Gently but perceptibly, Spurs are inching into this.
23 min Elsewhere, Youri Tielemans has scored another beauty, putting Leicester in front at Brentford.
21 min Soucek arrives late and high on Hojbjerg, introducing studs to thigh, and is booked. On another day, the ref sends him off for that, but I’m glad he didn’t because it wasn’t too bad a tackle.
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20 min But now here come Spurs, Son finding space in between Cresswell and Ogbonna, left as centre-backs, holding up before poking to Moura. He’s not sure where he is, searching for the ball around his arse before digging out a shot that flies over the top. That wasn’t a bad chance.
19 min Fornals touches off for Benrahma who advances and slides Antonio away at inside-left. He checks inside Romero – see ya! – then rolls back for Fornals, who arrives onto the ball and slices a shot wide.
17 min Spurs need to gets some balls into Kane, have him hold them up, and see what happens, because at the moment they’re not participating in this game; they’re getting the ball away, setting, then defending again. They’ve not conceded many chances, granted, but they’ve got to be better than this.
16 min “Everybody knows Ozzy is a Villa supporter,” chides Joe Pearson. “Better to go with Iron Maiden, who are definitely Hammers. Surely The Trooper would be a better choice.
I’m further out of my element than Theodore Donald Kerabatsos.
14 min Lovely from Antonio, pulling left and isolating Emerson, before feinting one way then spinning the other to chip a cut-back for Soucek ... who hammers his volley over the bar.
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13 min Spurs have done absolutely nothing so far. Ordinarily, that’d be a bad sign, but Nuno’s Wolves were happy to let first halves pass, so maybe this is part of the plan.
11 min Ndombele scurries into the box down its left-hand side, so Zouma rushes across tackles. Spurs want a penalty, and looking at the replay, Zouma almost obliged them; he was saved by Ndombele treading on the ball. He’ll not want anyone taking a second look at that, but with VAR that’s no longer a possibility. Laugh!
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10 min “You can see why Mourinho had such a problem with Ndombele,” says Stephen Carr. “He seems totally disinterested in winning the ball back when he inevitably loses possession.”
We don’t know what his manager has asked him to do but yes, he reminds me a lot of Paul Pogba – capable of skill so languid and otherworldly that sometimes you don’t have a clue what he’s even done, but lacking the intensity you need to be a reliable elite-level performer.
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8 min Here comes West Ham again, Johnson pulling wide, taking the ball from Bowen, and feeding a decent return-ball in behind; Bowen crosses well and Fornals leaps into a scissors-kick, but though his connection is decent, it’s easily saved by Lloris down by the near post.
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7 min Ndombele tries to get his team moving, smacking a short pass into Moura, whose return is awry and intercepted by Rice. He misses the ball over the top for Antonio, but must be such a pain in the arse to play against.
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6 min This has been a good start from the home side; we’ve barely seen Spurs thus far.
5 min Email! “I’ll be disappointed,” says Scott Blair, “if I’m the only one to suggest that the, um, updated mascot in that photie at the top of the page doesn’t deserve a theme tune.”
3 min West Ham will be heartened by how Lloris came for that corner. They’re the league’s best side from set-plays – I’m not sure why all managers don’t take them as seriously as Moyes – with great delivery from both flanks.
2 min Bowen curls in a decent ball and Lloris, Spurs’ Welsh keeper, claws it away, just. Fornals and Benrahma then arrive onto it, the former running over it and the latter shooting into shins.
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1 min It’s a strange camera angle at the London Stadium, like an optical illusion that makes the pitch look narrower than it is. But in the meantime, West Ham stroke it about, Rice stepping into midfield to give impetus to the attack, then when the ball goes wide to Cresswell, he crosses and Dier heads behind.
1 min Aaaaand away we go!
The players take a knee. Black lives matter; let’s all educate ourselves to understand that it’s more than slogan.
Here come the teams. Bubbles are being blown.
I’ve not seen much of Cristian Romero, so he’s another I’m looking forward to watching today. Playing next to Eric Dier must be a trip, but Argentinian centre-backs are a very special breed.
All pubs, restaurants, alleyways and parks in the vicinity must be closed.
Elsewhere, it’s getting warm in Rome, where Napoli are the visitors. Kick off is in a mere two hours and 10 minutes!
🏟 #RomaNapoli è sold out! 👏
— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) October 24, 2021
Grazie a tutti i tifosi giallorossi. FORZA ROMA!#ASRoma pic.twitter.com/34f6uukLPw
David Moyes tells Sky he’s got a good squad he wants to use, but the XI he’s retained have earned it by doing well. They’re trying to manage Antonio so he stays fit – he’s not played as often as he’d like thus far in his career – and he hopes he’s in good shape for this one. He plans to get West Ham in Europe for years and years to come, so they’ve got to get used to it, and midweek competition has no effect on weekend behaviour.
Nuno, meanwhile, says it’s a big game for the team and the fans, and his team must stick to its task. He’s glad Harry Kane got a goal last week and thinks things are gelling.
Looking at our teams in the round, my guess is that Spurs’ attackers will look to pick holes in the channels between West Ham’s centre-backs and full-backs, and I daresay Reguilon and Son plan to gang up on Ben Johnson – not because they hate Volpone, but because he’s still pretty green. West Ham, meanwhile, will plan to get it wide early, then use overlaps and decoys to fashion crossing opportunities, with Rice or Soucek making third-man runs into the box to help Antonio.
I’ve been really enjoying Said Benrahma recently. He took a while to get going at West Ham, but he’s a big reason they’ve continued this season as they finished last; as I said earlier, Moyes may be a safety-first manager, but he’s always made room for at least one creator, and Benrahma has taken over Jesse Lingard’s mantelpiece very nicely.
Graeme Souness is extremely furious for 1.30 on a Sunday dinnertime, and the ladz on the studio are very closely packed. I can’t wait to see him once Paul Pogba’s failed to score 74 goals in this afternoon’s second game.
On Sky, they’re banging about on Cristiano Ronaldo. It is so fascinating. I’ll not ruin it for those of you hoping to watch it later, but I will say that forward lines trying to incorporate two new members can take time to settle.
Dreadful though Spurs were in Arnhem, I liked the look of Bryan Gil and I hope we get a look at him today. I don’t think it’ll be long before he nabs Lucas Moura’s starting XI spot, because he’s got a lot of ability and isn’t scared. Which isn’t to say Moura is, but we already know what he is, and it’s not quite good enough for what Spurs would like to be.
Not to be confused with the violence administered here.
This game was settled by one of the great penalties from Julian Dicks – don’t miss it.
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A classic from the past.
Spurs also keep last weekend’s XI. Nuno seems to have settled on a midfield of Hojbjerg, Skipp and Ndombele, a trio should be able to compete physically with Soucek and Rice. There’s not, though, very much creativity there – if Ndombele is off it, the front three will either have to deal with things themselves or hope the full-backs don’t let them down. That feels like a problem.
After resting players in midweek, David Moyes retains the team that won at Everton last Sunday. Sky reckon that it’s a 4-5-1 not a 4-3-3, with Benrahma in behind Antonio, which’d make plenty of sense, and however it shakes out, I’m sure that he, Bowen and Fornals will turn up in all manner of places.
Before we dig into those line-ups, a little thing on football and love.
And our teams!
West Ham United (a nails 4-3-3): Fabianski; Johnson, Zouma, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice, Fornals; Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma. Subs: Areola, Vlasic, Diop, Masuaku, Yarmolenko, Ashby, Noble, Lanzini, Dawson.
Tottenham Hotspur (a settling 4-3-3): Lloris; Royal, Romero, Dier, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Skipp, Ndombele; Lucas Moura, Kane, Son. Subs: Gollini, Sanchez, Gil, Lo Celso, Alli, Bergwijn, Tanganga, Davies, Rodon.
Preamble
If a football match happens and no one’s there to see it, did it even happen at all? Well the record books say yes but the soul says no, and the reason is fixtures like this one: football without hatred is nothing.
Or something like that. Football is also about love, which is the real reason we’re here. Hate is just a bonus, but be absolutely certain, it will be joining us for this little altercation. Though there’s not much good to be said for a pandemic, a very minor benefit is reminding football fans what they do and why they do it, so we can be certain that the London Stadium will be absolutely jumping this afternoon.
Adding to the crackle is the league table; both sides are, er, “in a good moment” with Spurs sitting fifth and West Ham seventh. It’s true that the away side were hilariously miserable in midweek, but the likelihood is that none of those debcaclers will start today and Nuno Espírito Santo looks to have found the balance in recent weeks, his midfield of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp and Tanguy Ndombele balancing protection of a dicky defence with provision for an arousing attack.
Imposing that against West Ham, though, is a far from straightforward activity. As solid as you’d expect a David Moyes side to be, they also have the flair you’d expect from a David Moyes side – just because yerman isn’t a cavalier doesn’t mean he has no respect for gamebreakers – and more than anything, their purpose, confidence and belief suffuses every performance. All of which is a long-winded way of saying I don’t know what’s going to happen here ... but I do know it’s going to be a buzz.
Kick-off: 2pm BST
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