Defeats hurt. They hurt especially when they happen against our archrivals from North London. But what happened on Sunday was even harder to swallow.
We were completely outplayed, outfoxed, outperformed, outpassed, outclassed by, I’m sorry to admit it, a VERY good Tottenham side.
Initially I thought we might be able to cope, even without Dmitri Payet on the pitch. How wrong I was! But then again, I’m not strictly sure if Payet’s absence is the only reason we got torn apart at White Hart Lane. It surely played a part, but the entire team looked second-best, not just in terms of skill and performance but unfortunately also in terms of desire, effort and determination. Mixed in with some more individual blunders leading to goals we looked tooth- and spineless on the day.
Again, Spurs are a side flying at the moment, with good players spread all over the pitch, a quality Premier League outfit. Then again, especially after a lengthy International break, our lads should have been up for this game which in many ways is the most important one of the season for many fans.
Bilic will have his hands and mind full of how to adjust our team into life without Payet. If you want to be a challenger in this league you cannot be overreliant on one single player.
Injuries can always happen, sometimes even without an opposing player getting his foot in. You need to have the kind of squad and tactical nous to deal with these things.
They happen. They will happen again to other influential players at our club. Things are still tight in the table, go on a run of successive victories and you’re right back up there, for now though we have pretty much crashed back down to very earthly reality with fortune trying to hide once again.
But it obviously is not all doom and gloom. Future opponents will be of much lesser quality than Spurs. Players like Song, Obiang and Ogbonna may start to stake their claim now that some other players, especially in defense, have looked less than convincing in recent games. Starting with Carroll still doesn’t quite seem to work. There is still quite some quality available in our squad, Bilic merely needs to find the right formula in training now and go with it.
What’s even more important though is that we approach the games with more hunger, desire and passion than in recent games.
Against Spurs we were clearly second best, losing the ball numerous times, failing to find teammates with a pass, struggling to get anything going in terms of attacking football.
It almost appeared as if Spurs had a man advantage which appears to indicate that their players showed more movement and effort all over the pitch.
We need to put this game behind us quickly, reshuffle our pack and get back on track at the earliest opportunity, hence our next game against West Brom.
On a personal note this will be an emotional week for me. I’m doing what West Ham will have to do in the summer: Leaving behind a beloved home for many years.
Friday is the official date of our notary appointment when my brother and I will be selling my parent’s house and our childhood home which was built by my parents nearly 40 years ago. Many memories are crammed into this building, good ones and bad, and this house has been a massive part of my life.
It’s a weird thought that soon enough it will be a canvas for a new (young) family to make their own memories, It’s the circle of life I suppose. My brother has a house of his own twenty miles away and contrary to him I have no wife and kids which would probably have allowed me to keep the house within our family.
It will take a while for everything to sink in and it’s going to be tough for a while. But like West Ham I just need to move on somehow. Hopefully onwards for bigger and better things to come. Should fortune decide to come out of hiding and give us a big fat smile for a change. COYI!