Tottenham look listless and lost in loss at West Ham United

After giving his starting XI a week off to prepare for West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur came out and again looked like a team that could less about football, in a listless 1-0 loss.

For Tottenham fans, it is hard to say what is the most disturbing at this point. Is it the lack of effort and intensity on the pitch? Is it the poor play and lack of a plan?  Ultimately, Tottenham is showing to be a team of millionaires who simply could not care less.

West Ham did exactly what we thought they would

There was nothing surprising about Sunday’s game from a West Ham perspective. The team was solid defensively and looked for opportunities to hit Tottenham on the break. While Spurs were bending at times against the Hammer’s pressure, it looked like neither team was going to breakthrough.

However, as they have all season – and frankly for two seasons – West Ham scored on a set-piece and that was enough to send Spurs to their fourth loss in London this season, making Spurs the whipping boys of the London mini-league.

Tottenham was never good enough

It was another one of those days for Tottenham Hotspur, wherefrom the opening minute the team was second best and under pressure. The West Ham pressure meant Tottenham were hurried in their passing and quick to go backward with the ball.

Spurs managed only seven shots in the match and did not have a single attempt in the second half, compared to five for the Hammers, including Michail Antonio’s touch for a goal.

Despite having no real forward thrust, it was not until there were less than 10 minutes in the game when Nuno Espirito Santo made his first change for Tottenham. At that point taking off Sergio Reguilon – the team’s only real offensive outlet on the day – was a real head-scratcher but par for the course from a manager and team that looks completely lost.

Tottenham never did anything that remotely caused Lukasz Fabianski and West Ham any real concern and despite parking the bus for almost the entire second half, the Hammers still outplayed Spurs and took all three points.

Following a loss to a mid-table team from the Netherlands midweek and this loss, which now leaves Spurs seven points back of Chelsea for the top of the table, Tottenham hopefully has hit rock bottom.

At this point, we can blame Nuno, we can blame Daniel Levy, but we ultimately need to point the figure at the players who are simply not giving enough. With Manchester United coming to London next weekend, Spurs can go from bad to worse if the lack of ambition and effort continues.