Highlighting Tottenham Hotspur's Offensive Ineptitude vs. West Ham United

Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 3-0 by West Ham United, and while Spurs' defending was shoddy, it was their offensive ineptitude which was concerning.

Seven games into the Premier League season, Andre Villas-Boas' Tottenham have only scored six times. For perspective, bottom-placed Sunderland have scored five times.

Christian Eriksen Goes Missing 

West Ham's Ravel Morrison, Mark Noble and Mohamed Diame congested the midfield. 

Kevin Nolan patrolled the area between the midfield and the defence whilst Winston Reid was impeccable in sweeping up from the back. 

In fact, one of Eriksen's two failed dribbles came against Reid. 

Eriksen wasn't given any room to operate in, which is why 14 of his 26 completed passes weren't incisive. When you factor in his 78.8 passing completion percentage, Eriksen wasn't a creator and was complacent in possession. 

Lewis Holtby has five assists in games against Aston Villa, Dinamo Tbilisi and Anzhi Makhachkala.

Holtby deserves to start as the centre attacking midfielder in Spurs' next Premier League game. 

Paulinho's Shooting Slump

"Paulinho is like a black Lampard," said Juan Roman Riquelme, via Darren Lewis at the Mirror. "He is a phenomenon."

Paulinho's shooting hasn't been phenomenal as he's now scored one league goal from 25 shots. 

Against West Ham, two of his shots were nowhere near the goals. 

Paulinho needs to either improve his shots-to-goals conversion rate or pass the ball when he's in an advanced position. 

LEAGUE ONLY	Shots Per Game	Goals
Paulinho	3.6	1
Loic Remy	3.2	5
Daniel Sturridge	3.1	6
Aaron Ramsey	2.3	4
Yaya Toure	1.9	4

Jermain Defoe Suffers Like Roberto Soldado

Defoe came into the game with three goals in two UEFA Europa League games and has only misplaced four of his 58 passes. 

So much for form. 

Just like Soldado, who's struggled in the Premier League to the extent that he has yet to score from open play, Defoe was isolated for the majority of the game. 

It wasn't his fault. Eriksen didn't create a goal. Gylfi Sigurdsson was stripped of possession four times and only made 20 passes. Paulinho's game isn't based on making goals.

This Isn't the Game to Lambaste Andros Townsend

OK, Townsend missed another four shots and lost possession eight times—not a big deal when he was the only Spurs footballer who played in an uptempo fashion. 

Take this comparison, for instance: 

Player A: high-IQ footballer with brilliant technique but goes missing for most of the game. 

Player B: at times his decision-making forces you into a face-palm, but he's a constant threat throughout the game. 

Player A is Eriksen and player B is Townsend.

Townsend got past a player nine times, which is more than the entire West Ham team combined (eight). 

If only he was more efficient.

Bottom line: This Premier League season, Townsend and Paulinho have combined for one goal from 51 shots. They are No. 1 and 2 in shots per game at the club—neither are strikers.  

Statistics via WhoScored, FFT Stats Zone, Squawka and Transfermarkt 
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