Callum Wilson struck a late winner for West Ham United to boost their survival chances and pile pressure on Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank.
Spurs have not lived up to expectations in the Dane’s first season in charge, and his side looked to have secured a point after Cristian Romero’s bullet header cancelled out Crysencio Summerville’s deflected first-half goal.
But Wilson, on as a substitute, scored after a corner in stoppage time to leave Tottenham in 14th place, with 27 points, and their opponents 10 behind them in 18th.
Here, our writers break down the key talking points of the match…
What went wrong?
Tottenham were not at their stodgiest in the first half, as there was a visible aim to play the ball forwards and attack, but they remained as ineffective in attack as they were against Chelsea at home, or Brentford or Nottingham Forest away.
When Spurs worked the ball into threatening positions, the final ball was easily cleared. In defence, they were sliced through on several occasions, with West Ham seemingly needing just one pass to break through Tottenham’s midfield.
Yves Bissouma, earning his first minutes of the season, replaced Archie Gray at half-time, which brought a much-needed midfield anchor prepared to receive and play passes through the lines.
While West Ham were content to sit back and allow Spurs time on the ball, Bissouma’s willingness to patrol the middle of the pitch and contribute to the team’s attack added a dynamism rarely seen from Spurs’ midfield this season.
Like against Bournemouth, Spurs somehow turned their momentum into a shock defeat. For much of the second period, Spurs were considerably better than their opponents and looked far more likely to grab the winner after Romero’s equaliser. But after a heroic block from Pedro Porro to prevent a Wilson goal, the Englishman was on hand to convert from the resulting corner.
Spurs fans responded by chanting “you’re getting sacked in the morning” to Frank, who was pictured looking shell-shocked in the dugout.
Elias Burke
What happened at the protest?
Away from a must-win game against West Ham on the pitch, Saturday was the first occasion since August when Tottenham fans had arranged to congregate outside the stadium in protest.
The planned demonstrations were led by fan group “Change for Tottenham”, formed in 2021. In a statement released on their social channels on January 11, they outlined their reasons for protest, including “the board’s transfer strategy”, “extortionate ticket prices” and “clarity on the director of football role”. Vinai Venkatesham, the club’s chief executive officer, addressed some of the issues in the match programme, a gesture that was received gratefully by fans who desire more communication from the boardroom.
The protests attracted between 50 to 100 people outside the Corner Pin pub just yards away from the stadium. In addition to common terrace songs, they chanted “we want ENIC out”, a chant heard less frequently by home supporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since Daniel Levy was removed from his role as executive chairman in September.
Hostilities within the fanbase, which have been growing in recent weeks and reached a head in the 3-2 defeat against Bournemouth, where several players were involved in heated discussions with travelling supporters, may have been eased slightly by Venkatesham’s statement and Conor Gallagher’s signing from Atletico Madrid. That perhaps explains the relatively low turnout compared to the hundreds, if not thousands, who marched up to the stadium last February before a game against Manchester United.
Change for Tottenham was formed in response to, and continues to protest against, the board, but results and performances are not helping. Tottenham have not won a Premier League game at home since the 2-0 win over Brentford on December 6, just their second league home win of the season. But after another disappointing defeat to West Ham, there’s no question discontent within the fanbase will continue to grow.
Elias Burke
How was Gallagher’s debut?
Having only finalised his switch from Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, Gallagher barely had any time to get to know his new team-mates on the training pitch before he was thrust into the starting line-up.
Gallagher has famously never missed a game through injury in his professional career, but within 30 seconds he was on the ground holding his head after colliding with West Ham forward Pablo. Fortunately, he was up and ready to go after receiving treatment, and he brought many of the attributes Spurs signed him for.
Gallagher was industrious and tough-tackling in midfield, fighting for possession and second balls as one of Frank’s defensive midfielders. Given he has had limited time to build a partnership, it is natural that his relationship with Gray looked disjointed, but he improved, while the unit did overall, in the second period alongside Bissouma.
It was not the dream debut he envisioned, especially with the result, but there was enough encouragement from his opening outing that he will be a success in north London.
Elias Burke
What does this result mean for Frank?
It would have been difficult to imagine a worse ending to this game. Tottenham worked hard to get back into it after another disastrous first half, made it 1-1 through Romero’s header, and then had chances to go 2-1 up. But then Wilson bundled in a corner in the third minute of added time.
There have been plenty of bad moments in this miserable season but none as bad as this one. Hearing the boos and jeers of the home fans after Wilson’s winner — and then again at the final whistle — will put Frank under more pressure than ever.
And will surely make next Saturday’s game away to Burnley the highest-pressure game of his tenure. Expectations have been low all season, but Frank’s Spurs still keep on finding ways to fail to meet them.
And while the nature of West Ham’s late winner was perhaps unfortunate, on another day, West Ham would have won this game in the first half.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
What did Frank say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Spurs?