Tottenham Opposition Scouting Report: West Ham

By Ryan Wrenn | Nov 18, 2016

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 22: Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur looks on with Slaven Bilic, Manager of West Ham United during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at White Hart Lane on November 22, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

The team Tottenham will line up against at White Hart Lane Saturday won’t quite be the same West Ham they faced last term.

That West Ham was a club ascendant. Inspired by the appointment of Slaven Bilić over the summer, the Hammers fought and fought hard. They would claim some big scalps over the campaign — including Tottenham’s — and they would eventually finish in seventh place with a Europa League qualifying berth.

Earning a spot in Europe was a marked improvement over seasons past, where West Ham struggled to break into the top half of the Premier League table. Bilić was tasked with sustaining or building on that momentum as the club moved into its new home in London’s Olympic Stadium.

Doing so required the retention of the club’s best players — namely Dimitri Payet. The French international was among the breakout stars for the club last term after moving from Olympique de Marseille, and continues to be instrumental this season with four assists and one goal in nine appearances.

Through 11 matches this season, however, West Ham are faltering. With eleven points thus far, West Ham sit in 17th place, just one point from the relegation zone.

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They have suffered some unsurprising defeats, namely against Chelsea and Manchester City. Those results might not inspire panic on their own. West Hams fans will be more concerned about some of the other results so far this term.

Losses against Everton, West Brom, Southampton and Watford this term are all 180 degree reversals from the corresponding fixtures last term. Against the clubs West Ham needs to be beating in order to stay ahead of the midtable grind, the club is failing and failing often.

Why this is all happening despite little turnover during the summer is the big question. Where West Ham enjoyed a healthy ratio of goals scored and goals conceded last term — 1.71 scored per Premier League game and 1.34 conceded — those numbers have dropped off considerably.

Over eleven matches this season, West Ham are scoring just one goal on average per game and giving up 1.81. The defense proving more frail than last term is a concern, but it’s dwarfed by the drop off in quality in offense.

Part of the problem, it seems, is that only two of West Ham’s best players are living up to reputations established last year. Payet and Michail Antonio look undiminished, but to date many other goalscorers from last year simply haven’t showed up.

Some of this is simply a matter of injury — Andy Carroll, who scored nine times last term, is sidelined again — but other dips are less easy to explain. Mark Noble’s seven goals and four assists last term were a bit of an outlier last season anyhow, and in any case he will be suspended for the trip to Tottenham.

Next: Who Starts for Tottenham Against West Ham?

West Ham thrived last season from a fairly wide spread of goal sources in the squad. Now things are falling back to earth. Payet and Antonio aren’t going to be able to bridge that gap, against Tottenham or any other club.

Overconfidence doesn’t look good on any side, particularly Tottenham, but the turmoil within West Ham will suit Pochettino and company just fine. Even with Tottenham’s one offensive issues of late, they should start and end Saturday’s match as the vastly superior team.