West Ham United vs. Tottenham Hotspur: 6 Things We Learned
West Ham United claimed a 2-0 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur at Upton Park on Saturday.
West Ham scored via Spurs centre-forward Harry Kane's own goal and West Ham right attacking midfielder Stewart Downing's free-kick.
Sam Allardyce's West Ham were in the ascendency throughout the game after Spurs centre-back Younes Kaboul's red card.
Au Revoir, Younes Kaboul
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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Younes Kaboul has accumulated five red cards during his Premier League career, so him making a daft decision is nothing new.
With West Ham United right attacking midfielder Stewart Downing through on goal, Kaboul should have pulled out of the challenge.
It was a low-football-IQ decision to foul Downing as it was 0-0 in the 24th minute.
Kaboul should have trusted Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to make the save.
While Kaboul is a good defender when he is fully fit and has had a run of games, Spurs should consider letting him go in the summer transfer window.
Kaboul has averaged seven Premier League appearances in the last two seasons. In that time he has been the worst passing outfielder at Spurs (72.6 pass completion percentage), and he lacks upside at 28 years of age.
What Is Wrong with Paulinho?
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Statistics will tell you Tottenham Hotspur central midfielder Paulinho has scored five Premier League goals from 69 shots and created two goals from 1,260 pass attempts.
What statistics will not tell you is how many wrong decisions Paulinho makes on the football field.
Some of the high-risk passes he attempted today are passes Spurs left attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen would not even try.
Defensively, Paulinho was found wanting.
His off-the-ball defending was abysmal against West Ham United.
He has to track the runner and there are no valid excuses for not putting the effort in.
He did not want to play this game as evident when he shirked away from West Ham United right attacking midfielder Stewart Downing's free-kick, thus breaking apart the wall and allowing the Englishman to score.
Where Was Emmanuel Adebayor?
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If you have ever wondered why Tottenham Hotspur centre-forward Emmanuel Adebayor has never transitioned into a world-class No. 9, this game will tell you why.
Talk about a "I am not really here" performance from Adebayor.
It was as if he thought to himself: "I've reached 10 Premier League goals this season, so I can take it easy."
The laugh out loud moment when he gave Spurs central midfielder Paulinho the death stare after the Brazilian cowered away from West Ham United right attacking midfielder Stewart Downing's free-kick sums up who Adebayor is.
He played a part in the wall breaking, yet he blamed Paulinho.
In hindsight, Adebayor should have been subbed off for centre-back Vlad Chiriches, as opposed to centre-forward Harry Kane, who actually cared about the game since he pressured West Ham United goalkeeper Adrian into two sliced clearances.
Tim "Excuses" Sherwood
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There is always an excuse for Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood, who has been in defence mode whenever asked about his future.
"If a club like Tottenham, which is a giant club, are relying on two or three games at the end of the season to know whether I'm good enough to take them forward," Sherwood said, per Charles Perrin at the Daily Express. "Then we've got a serious problem."
Sherwood's inconsistent managerial tendencies are a factor in him potentially being replaced by Ajax manager Frank de Boer, per Jeremy Wilson at the Telegraph.
He spoke about "foreign managers" not giving chances to younger players, per Paul Doyle at the Guardian, but central midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, 19, has lost his starting role to two make-shift central midfielders in Gylfi Sigurdsson and Nacer Chadli.
The mounting unforced errors are a big red flag in Sherwood's ability to coach solid defence.
Aside from pass the ball to Spurs left attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen or centre-forward Emmanuel Adebayor, there isn't a noticeable game-plan going forward.
Hugo Lloris Stood Tall
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Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was outstanding.
He ensured West Ham United did not win by a bigger margin than 2-0.
He made seven saves, commanded his box and gave it his all, unlike some of his teammates, who took the day off.
Great Game from Andy Carroll
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West Ham United centre-forward Andy Carroll dominated Tottenham Hotspur centre-backs Michael Dawson and Vlad Chiriches after Younes Kaboul's red-card.
Carroll asserted his physicality on the game by winning 13 headers.
He created four shots for his teammates and took nine shots himself.
Of the nine shots, he failed to score any of them.
If he was a better finisher, he would be a world-class centre-forward.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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