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Premier League
West Ham United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur 

Saturday, 3rd May 2025
by Chris Wilkerson

The green shoots of recovery continue to be trampled down by mediocrity as West Ham drew with a weakened and uninterested Tottenham Hotspur this Sunday afternoon.

In a season that seems to refuse to end, the Hammers played out another game that lacked anything that makes sport meaningful. Neither side had the quality, desire or bravery to make anything of this match, with a second half so drab that even paying fans would have been more entertained had the two captains shaken hands at half-time and accepted the 1-1 draw there and then.




A promising start was thrown away by a lackadaisical error by Max Kilman that allowed Mathys Tel to set up Wilson Odobert, and whilst Bowen's well-taken equaliser got the home fans off their feet, this was another draining and pointless game of football at the London Stadium this season.

Graham Potter made two changes to the team that collapsed late at Brighton a week earlier, with Niclas Fullkrug and Aaron Cresswell replacing James Ward-Prowse and Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Tottenham, three days off of a first leg victory in the Europa League semi-finals, made a total of eight, with only Vicario, Bissouma and Richarlison remaining from the team that started against Bodo/Glimt.

West Ham started well, with a pace to their work and some bite in their play. An early break down the right side should have amounted to more, only for Wan-Bissaka to fail to find a man when in acres of space around the box.

There was a handball shout that would have been harsh to give, and a nice moment as Fullkrug turned and beat Ben Davies with quick feet, only to be scythed down by the makeshift centre back.

The football was neat and tidy, too, with the passing looking increasingly better with each week under the manager. Amongst many ills of this season, it should not be ignored that Potter has started to get this team far more comfortable on the ball, and much better at playing out from the back.

Unfortunately for him, these are little signs of improvement against a tide of miserable football, as full of mistakes as it is lacking in creativity. And it was one of these unforced errors that handed Tottenham a surprise lead with a quarter of an hour gone.

A ball down the line to the right corner of the West Ham box was set to be cleaned up by Kilman, but the defender dallied and then overplayed when the ball needed to be cleared. Under pressure from Tel, a pass down the line on his weaker foot was blocked, and when it fell back to Kilman, his panicked flick to get the ball anywhere but near him only dropped it right to Tel's feet.




The Frenchman quickly squared it into the box, beyond the marked Richarlison and to the penalty spot for Wilson Odobert, who controlled quickly and then passed it beyond Areola as the goalkeeper desperately tried to close him down.

Any momentum the Hammers had accumulated from a promising start was lost, and they were lucky to be playing a team of Tottenham misfits with little motivation.

Had this been an opponent of quality or ambition, the home side would have had to grapple and fight to gain back that control, but Postecoglou's Spurs have struggled to show that this season even before the Europa League became their sole objective.

This Tottenham side, full of reserves and rotation, was not a good one. They had not been playing well, and after being handed the goal against the run of play, they handed the initiative back to West Ham immediately.

To some extent, that is another positive from the performance. Both collectively and individually, West Ham and Max Kilman recovered from the setback and went back to playing their football.

Unfortunately, West Ham's football isn't good, at least not with any consistency. They did equalise in the first half, but they never took apart a team that was there for the taking.

It came after a good pass to spread the play from Kudus got Wan-Bissaka moving down the right with space ahead of him. As he pushed forward, Bowen darted down the side right side of the box, and Wan-Bissaka slipped it through to him as the Tottenham defence stayed static.

The West Ham captain would not have expected the time he was awarded, and as Kudus fell inside the box, Bowen was given no other option than to go alone. The angle was tight, only a couple of yards from the byline and inside the six-yard box, so the forward passed it through Vicario's legs and into the back of the net for his 10th goal of the Premier League season.




There was another handball claim, this one with more merit, but still fairly turned down, and Richarlison had half a chance after being slipped into the box and losing Soucek far too easily, but the Brazilian was caught in two minds and his effort was neither a shot nor a pass as it rolled harmlessly across the six-yard box.

The Hammers were the better team in the first half as the two teams went in at 1-1, but it was a weak boast. It was also a tour de force of football compared to the 45 that followed it.

Soulless, far removed from competitive football, and neither befitting of the home fans nor worth revisiting: these are words you could use to describe the London Stadium and this second half of football.

There was an early chance for Spurs, Tel beating Todibo for pace chasing a ball down the side of the French defender, but shooting right at Areola.

But the half just lacked life. Flat and insipid, this was 45 minutes of everyone's life wasted. Whatever West Ham had done well in the first half, it was gone. Neat passing in areas of little threat is all well and good if it leads anywhere, but the home side could find nothing to inspire life in the final third. It was not until the 71st minute that an incident was even worth a note.

That came with some good work by Kudus, who beat three Spurs defenders to get space for a cross down the left wing. He deftly lifted it to the far post, but whilst Fullkrug got up high off the ground, he mistimed his jump slightly and failed to get over the ball, heading over instead.

Sarr threatened a few minutes later for the visitors, taking the opportunity to cut in towards goal from the left, and hitting just over with a rasping drive.

That was enough for Potter to finally accept that this lifeless team was not going to conjure a goal from nothing, and could well collapse again. A quadruple change, with Ward-Prowse, Soler, Coufal and Ferguson replacing Paqueta, Soucek, Todibo and Fullkrug.




For three of those, it would be no surprise to never see them line up for this team again, although all fans would hope to be given the chance to give Coufal some sort of send-off.

The change nearly worked, with Ward-Prowse's set-piece prowess on show. A freekick on the left was curled at goal, bouncing as it dropped over the wall, and Bowen made the run across the face of goal.

The captain got low and flicked the ball on behind him, but Vicario was equal to it, diving to his left as his body weight went the other way, propelling the ball away with a firm hand and reacting well to the slight change of direction six yards from his goal.

There was time for Ward-Prowse to line up a freekick from 25 yards with seconds left of stoppage-time, and the midfielder came agonisingly close as his effort whipped just wide of the top right of Vicario's goal.

But a draw seemed a suitable result for two teams who did not deserve anything more. It means Potter is now without a win since February 28th, a whole eight games since of four draws and four defeats.

Maybe just as importantly, this side is a struggle to watch. He has yet to find a solution that works across the pitch. We concede less in a back three, but lack any creativity in midfield. Make that a back four, and the defence is down a man and finds no protection from the midfield.

The attack has two players who only thrive in the same position, a striker yet to prove he is suited to English football and nobody up there or behind them with any creativity on show.

This is by no means the worst West Ham team, and this has been far from the worst West Ham season. But few will be wished away as quickly as this one has been. The question is whether the manager can convince the players in the remaining weeks to give him their optimism come the summer and next season.




Manager's Rating

Graham Potter: 5/10 Left the changes too long and didn't seem to make the adjustments the team needed throughout. Allowed a flat second half to taper out and die, seemingly afraid of defeat. Must do better.


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Player Ratings

Alphonse Areola
Not really called into action and could do nothing with the goal.


Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Good assist, defended well high up the pitch.


Aaron Cresswell
Looked assured and in complete control of all his work.


Jean-Clair Todibo
Strong and effective in his work.


Max Kilman
After his error for the first goal, he did a fantastic job on Richarlison and marked him out of the game.


Emerson Palmieri
Not enough end product in any of his work. Does not have the dynamism or final ball to play as a wing-back who has the run of one flank.


Tomas Soucek
A game of minimal impact for Tommy, but he held his own in a midfield two, doing the disciplined role. Didn't get the opportunities to make darts into the box, so it does beg the question of why you'd play him in a role where he can't do that.


Lucas Paqueta
Moments of brilliance and moments of madness. Makes too many lazy and risky passes in dangerous areas, something that seems to happen at least once a game.


Niclas Fullkrug
Slow and cumbersome performance. He's well liked, but he does not appear to have the mobility to get the best out of what's behind him. It will be interesting to see if he stays, and if a change of approach helps.


Jarrod Bowen
Took his goal well and worked hard, but lacks the kind of quality that means he can take a game by the scruff of the neck and drag his teammates with him.


Mohammed Kudus
He looks like a lost little boy who'd rather be anywhere else. The confidence and the instinct has gone from his play, and he's not a particularly good player without that.

Substitutes

James Ward-Prowse
(Paqueta 80') Didn't have the urgency on the ball that the crowd demanded late on, but he came close with a last-gasp freekick and his cross for Bowen was excellent.


Vladimir Coufal
(Todibo 80') Should have been on earlier if Potter wanted his right-sided centre back to join attacks and act as a secondary right back.


Evan Ferguson
(Fullkrug 80') He tries, but he's a lost little boy who needs a fresh start in a team that is not full of turmoil.


Carlos Soler
(Soucek 80') As ever, a game where you can see there's something to him as a footballer, but left no impression. Like his whole season.


Konstantinos Mavropanos
(Cresswell 88') No comments.

Match Facts

West Ham United: Alphonse Areola, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Aaron Cresswell, Jean-Clair Todibo, Max Kilman, Emerson Palmieri, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta, Niclas Fullkrug, Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus.

Goals: None.

Booked: None booked.           .

Sent Off: None sent off.     .

Tottenham Hotspur: .

Subs not used: .

Goals: .

Booked: None booked..

Sent off: None.

Referee: .

Attendance: 0.

Man of the Match: .