It was a game we had to win but yet again Tottenham provided a boost for a struggling team that had not won in months. With Burnley up next and an incredibly tough February fixture list, we may soon be looking over our shoulder at the relegation zone.
GK Guglielmo Vicario
Was unlucky with the deflection for the first goal and made a good save from a Mavropanos header in the first half. Weak on the second goal and was slow to distribute the ball, though that may be partly explained by a lack of movement ahead of him. Rating: 5
RB Pedro Porro
Backed off and allowed Summerville to come inside too easily for the opening goal. Porro improved in the second half and put in some excellent crosses, one of which resulted in our goal. Also made a good block near the end of the game even though the resulting corner gave West Ham their winner. Rating: 6
LB Djed Spence (substitute early for Ben Davies)
Spence came on after Davies was hurt and looked mostly comfortable enough defensively. Was not able to provide enough going forward in a game where we had a lot of the ball. Had one effort in the second half which went wide. Spence’s form has dropped this season, and he looked a lot more at ease with Ange Postecoglou’s more unique use of full backs than in Thomas Frank’s system. Rating: 5
CB Cristian Romero
Initially found it difficult to deal with Summerville’s movement and was booked for a frustrated foul on him before half time. Better in the second half and lead us forward from the back on several occasions. Scored our goal with a good header and was more of a threat when in the opposition box than any of our forwards. Rating: 7
CB Micky van de Ven
Like Romero, Micky was leading us forward in the second half and just after half time looked to be on one of those surging runs. Frustrating to see after he gained so much ground, the forwards play the ball back and slow the pace down. Mostly defended well, including an excellent block from Jarrod Bowen’s shot in the first half and then an even better block to stop a Summerville chance in the second half. Rating: 7
CM Archie Gray
Another game where Gray struggled to really get involved on the ball. Put in a lot of effort and made tackles in the first half but did not help us progress the ball well enough. Substituted at half time. Rating: 4
CM Connor Gallagher
Gallagher covered a lot of ground on his Spurs debut, including creating some good chances towards the end of the game. We need him to be the box-to-box midfielder we are missing, and this should happen with his ability. Today he was in and out of the game but a solid enough start. Rating: 6
RW Wilson Odobert
Started brightly, linking up with Porro and put some good crosses into the box that were lacking forwards to attack them. A good example is just before half time, Odobert got free and chipped the ball into the middle only for our lack of players forward to mean it was easily defended. Unfortunately continues to struggle to get involved consistently for large parts of the game. We attacked a lot on the right wing, but it was mostly through Porro. A disappointing second half. Rating: 5
LW Mathys Tel
Looked our best outlet in the first half and put a good early chance well over the bar. Also looked to take players on and had another effort which swerved wide. It was not a good team performance at all, but Tel looked one of the more likely to do something, so it was a surprise when he was substituted in the second half. Rating: 6
AM Xavi Simons
West Ham defended Simons well, particularly in the first half where he was unable to get on the ball much. Improved in the second half and does have the ability to drive us forward, we just did not see it enough. Had a good effort near the end of the game that was well saved but was not as involved or as creative as we needed today. Rating: 5
CF Randal Kolo Muani
As has often been the case this season, there was no lack of effort from Muani and he pressed well, but there was also no goal threat. West Ham’s defenders, who have been struggling all season, were able to contain him very easily. Still looking for his first Premier League goal. Rating: 3
Substitutes: Yves Bissouma, Lucas Bergvall, Dominic Solanke
Bergvall and Solanke were not able to get into the game much. Both are coming back from injuries, but the team could have been helped with attacking substitutions like this earlier. Even in his very short time on the pitch, it was clear Bergvall helps us in possession. Bissouma had a decent appearance after replacing Archie Gray at half time, helping to move us forward more and got into some good attacking positions.
Ratings: Bissouma (6), Bergvall (4), Solanke (3)