Picture for Controversial start, Antonio dropped – three crucial actions West Ham needs to do to defeat Spurs
This afternoon, in their first Premier League match following the recent international break, West Ham United takes on Tottenham Hotspur.
In anticipation of their London derby matchup with Spurs this week, the Hammers have begun training. Their international players have rejoined the team and are eager to build on their recent 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town as a sign of their improved form.
In recent years, London derbies involving Spurs have grown to be some of the most intriguing. If Julen Lopetegui’s team wins, they will be able to pass Spurs in the standings.
Kurt Zouma’s equalizer kept the home leg of the derby scoreless last season, but the Irons’ remarkable comeback from a 1-0 deficit to score two goals in the second half through Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse sealed the victory on the road.
They have discovered a technique to reveal Ange Postecoglou’s risky high line, which, if successful, might yield enormous benefits.
Three crucial elements that will improve West Ham’s prospects
Employ counteroffensive football.
Although Lopetegui has instilled in the team the value of controlling the ball, playing from behind, and maintaining possession, it would be foolhardy for them to use this strategy in North London.
Spurs play a high line, as is well known, bringing their wing-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie inside to generate overloads in the middle of the park and relying on the quickness of their defenders, such as Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, to cover ground defensively.
The Hammers must prioritize counterattacking football in order to take advantage of this. With Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka at the rear, they have the talent to withstand pressure from the Spurs front line.
When they regain possession of the ball, they can damage Spurs like other teams this season by using their talented midfielders to unleash their abundance of speed and clinical finishing up top.
Vary the attack
Mix up the attack
Michail Antonio has been a great servant for the club and the fans adore the striker for good reason – he’s currently the club’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer, ahead of Paolo Di Canio and club legend Mark Noble.
However, if they are to play the way we think they should they need bags of pace across the entire front line and therefore we believe they should mix things up and drop Antonio.
Utilising a front three of Mohammed Kudus and Crysenscio Summerville on the wings and Bowen through the middle, which he has played before, gives the team a more dynamic and fluid front three.
All three players can move across the pitch and use their devastating pace to attack the Spurs goal directly and all three have the goalscoring pedigree to put away their chances.
Bowen is fourth on West Ham’s all-time goalscoring list and has three goals in all competitions this season. Kudus has endured a slow start but has looked dangerous in parts, bagging his first league goal against Ipswich.
Summerville is the controversial one here. He has had a slow start to life under Lopetegui, picking up just 141 minutes in the final moments of games so far. However, there is a reason West Ham spent £29m plus add-ons for his services.
Over the last year, the 22-year-old ranks in the 96th percentile for shot-creating actions, 97th for touches in the attacking penalty area, and 87th for non-penalty goals compared to other wingers across Europe’s top five leagues, according to Fbref.
The young winger bagged 21 goals and 10 assists in all competitions for Leeds United last season and there is no reason why he cannot replicate this for the Hammers.
It’s time to start him.
Be brave with subs
As shown this season, Spurs are very susceptible to losing leads in the final moments of games. Just take a look at their last game against Brighton.
This means that taking advantage of the talent on the bench could be key to picking up three points this weekend, and Lopetegui has some gems among the substitutes.
One player I want to highlight here is summer signing, Luis Guilherme.
The young Brazilian arrived from Palmeiras in the summer for £278m but has barely touched the pitch, picking up just four Premier League minutes last time out against Ipswich on his debut.
While easing the 18-year-old into the first team is smart from Lopetegui, after clips of him in training this week were released, he could be an asset this weekend.
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