Hammers News

Just hours after West Ham United suffered a 3-0 defeat by bitter Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Keith Andrews picked up where Thomas Frank left off as Brentford snatched a late draw with Chelsea.

On an evening of two London derbies, Brentford maintained their unbeaten home record under their rookie manager as Fabio Carvalho drifted in behind Alejandro Garnacho and snaffled a stoppage-time equaliser.

That, by the way, was the seventh goal Brentford have scored from throw-ins since the start of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, when under the stewardship of the now-Spurs boss.

Now, Thomas Frank is far from a modern-day Tony Pulis. But while his North London neighbour Mikel Arteta appears increasingly reliant upon Declan Rice’s fizzing corner kicks, Frank’s teams are just as fearsome from dead-ball situations.

Frank has presided over 15 set-piece goals in the last 13 months, at the helm of Brentford and Tottenham respectively. As midfielder Joao Palhinha later told The Athletic, Tottenham set about exploiting West Ham’s weaknesses following a goalless first half at the London Stadium.

And as Pape Matar Sarr broke West Ham United resistance – unmarked at the far post, Tony Cottee hadn’t even finished his pint before the Spurs midfielder beat Mads Hermansen on 48 minutes – the comments made by captain Jarrod Bowen at full-time certainly do not reflect well on Frank’s opposite number.

An increasingly under-fire Graham Potter.

Jarrod Bowen provides damning insight into Graham Potter’s West Ham United weakness

West Ham have now conceded a remarkable six set-piece goals in 2025/26 alone. Tottenham clearly targeted Mads Hermansen, not that the Dane needed much encouragement to stay pinned to his goalline.

Former Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson has big doubts about Hermansen’s ability to command his penalty area. He is not the only one expressing such concerns.

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Just to add insult to injury, meanwhile, Bowen admits that West Ham were hardly taken aback by Tottenham’s threat from set-pieces. Though such comments will hardly improve the mood. Suggestions that Potter knew full-well about Frank’s party piece and still failed to prevent it is damning in itself.

Even before Sarr gave Spurs the lead, Cristian Romero saw a similarly close-range finish ruled out by a harsh referee decision.

“In the first half, I thought we did OK,” Bowen tells the club’s official website. “I thought we had a couple of chances, and got a couple of crosses into the box on the front foot.

“For the majority of the first half, we defended the set-pieces really well.

“We knew Thomas Frank from Brentford. We knew he’s inventive with set-pieces. He had some real success over the years with it.

“So we knew we had to be on our ‘A’ game, and they did have the corners [in the first half]. We defended them well. We were in a good position at half-time, but then the goal we conceded from a set-piece… these are the details that we need to look at ourselves and just take pride in keeping the ball out the back of the net.”

Joao Palhinha admits Spurs exploited Hammers set-piece problems

West Ham, and Hermansen, kept a first clean sheet of the season away at Nottingham Forest before the international break. But after those old weaknesses returned with an almighty vengeance, that trip to Arsenal on October 4th looms like a thunderstorm on the horizon.

“It was one of the areas we tried to explore because we knew we were stronger in that moment of the game. We started to put more focus on set pieces and we did well,” said Palhinha, the man fouled by Tomas Soucek in the incident which resulted in his 54th minute red card.

“Congratulations to the coach and staff because sometimes people only speak about the players, but the staff played an important role in this.

“They choose the position for the players [to take up inside the box], so we need to share this moment with them.”

Graham Potter is not the only West Ham United employee who Alan Pardew had some sympathy for after Saturday’s 3-0 blitzing by Premier League and London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

A poor start to the season went from bad to worse at the London Stadium. After conceding five goals in 43 minutes against Chelsea, Tottenham scored three times in just 17 minutes. A 17 minute spell in which Tomas Soucek saw red for a reckless challenge on Joao Palhinha.

Pape Matar Sarr broke West Ham United’s resolve just moments into the second half.

Soucek exited stage left only seven minutes later. Sent for an early bath, the Czech colossus had barely turned on the taps before Lucas Bergvall doubled the visitors’ lead with a towering header. Konstantinos Mavropanos and Kyle Walker-Peters allowed Bergvall to drift in between them before looping his finish over a helpless Hermansen.

And when Micky van de Ven swept in a third, the game was over as a contest.

Yet, while Soucek’s 54th minute dismissal wrecked any Hammers hopes of a derby day comeback, Alan Pardew could not help but feel some sympathy for a footballer who does not have a vindictive bone in his body.

Alan Pardew ‘felt so sorry’ for Tomas Soucek after West Ham United collapse against Tottenham

This was only Soucek’s second career red card, and his first in half-a-decade.

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As the ball ran loose, his was less of a challenge and more a desperate attempt to retrieve possession. Palhinha got their first, however. And when Soucek’s studs tore through the Portugal international’s shin pad, referee Jarred Gillett could only really make one decision.

“When I was West Ham manager, the most emotional game in the calendar was Spurs. There are so many derbies but this is more than a London derby,” recalls Pardew, speaking to talkSPORT. “A big emotional game.

“And not only do you lose 3-0, you get a guy sent off. Soucek, I felt so sorry for him. [The ball] runs away and he tries to retrieve it, and then it’s a high tackle and he’s off.

“But then Potter is on the sidelines. Every set play, it looks like they are going to score. We’re getting out-thought, and that comes back to you as a manager.”

The only positive, as Spurs started to pop the ball around to a chorus of ‘oles’ from the travelling support, is that most of the home fans were no longer present to see it.

“When you are down to ten men, you’ve got this opposition which the fans despise and they are passing it around, getting ‘oles’,” sighs Pardew, who spent three years at Upton Park from 2003 to 2006.

“Is [Potter] in a difficult position? Absolutely. Are West Ham fans a little bit rebellious against him and the board? Yes. So, there is a lot of bad feeling there, that needs to be addressed somehow.

“I thought that win at Forest might have given them a little bit of a lift [but] the international break could not have come at a worse time for Potter.”

Pardew explains the difficulty caused by international breaks

While Niclas Fullkrug picked up a calf injury on Germany duty – he was passed fit only for a role on the bench – Hermansen, Mavropanos, Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and the aforementioned Soucek returned to East London later than Potter would have ideally liked with such a high-pressure fixture to prepare for.

“I just want to give you a little bit of insight into that, as a Premier League manager. You are getting your players back Thursday night and sometimes Friday, but you don’t know how much work they’ve done. The international teams sometimes give you no information,” adds former Newcastle, West Brom and Crystal Palace coach Pardew.

“It is very difficult [to prepare]. Sometimes, you see strange selections after an international window because you want to pick players you’ve been working with on the training ground.”

Pardew also feels that West Ham are paying the price for a difficult transfer window.

While captain Jarrod Bowen argues the Hammers ‘recruited well’ in the end, Hermansen has endured a nightmare start in goal, Callum Wilson arrived without a pre-season, and midfield duo Mateus Fernandes and Soungoutou have made only one start between them after being made to wait until the end of August for their moves to be completed.

“The transfer window that they’ve just had has been a bit of a let-down in my opinion,” Pardew hits back. “They really needed to do some work in that and, if I was [Potter], I’d be disappointed with what I’ve been given.

“I’d have expected a little bit more investment. I think West Ham fans feel that as well.

“He’s got Bowen, a player who can get him out of trouble in terms of quality. A real top drawer quality. You’re blessed with that, I think there’s a good base there, some decent quality. But they don’t look like they’re going to threaten the top of the league for sure.

“The one thing that Potter is going to worry about is threatening the bottom of the league.”

Before Tony Cottee had even stepped foot inside the London Stadium ahead of Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur, the West Ham United icon had already suffered a considerable loss of pre-match confidence.

Graham Potter made only one change from the West Ham United side which finally got off the mark against Nottingham Forest on the other side of the international break.

But while Crysencio Summerville was rewarded for his exhilarating cameo at the City Ground – captain Jarrod Bowen says the winger is like a new signing following eight months out with injury – there was no place on Potter’s team sheet for another who made a huge impact off the bench on the banks of the Trent.

Much to Tony Cottee’s bemusement, Callum Wilson was conspicuous by his absence from the West Ham XI.

Tony Cottee baffled by Callum Wilson omission as West Ham United lose to Tottenham Hotspur

While a calf injury denied Niclas Fullkrug a starting spot – the big German was fit enough only for the bench Cottee cannot understand why Potter opted to start Lucas Paqueta as a makeshift number nine.

And if he were in Wilson’s shoes, the door to Potter’s office would be rattling off it’s hinges.

“If I was Callum Wilson, I would be banging the door down,” says Cottee, speaking to talkSPORT. “Because he came on at Forest and made the difference.

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“The manager, to be fair, started with Summerville. But to go into a home game without a centre- forward, I don’t get it. You’ve got Fullkrug and Callum Wilson on the bench, and surely Callum, after scoring against Forest, quite rightly [must be] knocking on the door saying; ‘Gaffer, why didn’t you play me?’.

“I don’t understand that. Perhaps he should have gone with the team that finished at Forest. It [creates] a bit of negativity in the crowd. I’m sitting there in the pub when the team comes out and saying; ‘Oh, they’re not playing with a centre-forward!’.”

Cottee slams ‘shocking defending’ as Graham Potter’s side conceded three more goals

To paraphrase former England international Darren Bent, West Ham have signed a potential 15-goal-a-season striker in Wilson.

While plenty of problems remain at the other end of the pitch – Mads Hermansen conceded three more goals against Tottenham while Gianfranco Zola questioned the positioning of Konstantinos Mavropanis and Kyle Walker-Peters in the build up to Spurs’ crucial second goal – Cottee is better placed than most to explain the importance of a centre-forward.

And how the issues a lack of a striker can cause up against a team like Spurs who prefer to dominate possession.

“The defending is absolutely shocking. Players not taking responsibility. [Tomas] Soucek’s sending off doesn’t help but players have to take responsibility as well as managers getting the players right,” adds Cottee, who scored 146 goals over two spells at Upton Park.

“[Striker] is a specialised position. It’s alright asking Paqueta or even Jarrod Bowen – both fantastic players- but they are not centre-forwards. They don’t know the specific runs you’ve got to make just to put pressure on the defence.

“Callum Wilson is great at playing on the last man’s shoulder. Fullkrug, more of a target man. But it’s a specialised position and, as soon as you don’t have that, you don’t have an outlet. Paqueta and Bowen want the ball into feet, so you lose all your options.

“It gave Tottenham lots and lots of possession. It’s a big game for West Ham, local rivals, but if you don’t play a centre-forward, how are you going to get on the front foot? There was frustration about the team selection.”

Potter told he must start Wilson or Niclas Fullkrug or both against Crystal Palace

Cottee predicts West Ham will keep Potter in situ until the November international break at the earliest. There are a handful of so-called ‘winnable’ fixtures to come before then – against Brentford, Burnley and Leeds United – the manager may be fortunate to survive another heavy home derby defeat.

And while Cottee is more in tune than most to the feelings of the Hammers faithful, it is difficult to imagine the fans brushing off a 4-0 battering by Palace regardless of Potter’s intent.

“Palace on Saturday, you’ve got to play a centre-forward. Maybe even two!” Cottee argues. “Go and have a go.

“If West Ham get beat 4-0 playing two centre-forwards, going gung-ho, the fans will accept that. They won’t accept getting beat 2-0 at home by Palace with no centre-forward.”

A Spurs star has trolled Graham Potter in the aftermath of West Ham’s meek defeat to their London rivals and it will surely have the club considering change, in more ways than one.

When you are a manager under pressure – like Graham Potter is at West Ham – the last thing you need is a player from your biggest rivals sticking the boot in.

The Hammers hit a new low when Tottenham Hotspur comfortably beat them 3-0 at the London Stadium.

And that is saying something given the 19 months of rapid regression that has taken place at West Ham United.

The Hammers and struggling manager Potter should actually be grateful to Spurs.

At 3-0 up, and with West Ham down to 10 men, Thomas Frank declared. He made sweeping changes and feathered the brakes with the start of Tottenham’s Champions League campaign in mind.

Champions League indeed. The holy grail of West Ham’s big move from Upton Park to the London Stadium.

Potter back on the ropes at West Ham after Spurs rout

The fact West Ham will bring up a decade in Stratford closer to the Championship – if not actually in it – than Europe’s top competition neatly sums up why fans are so utterly disillusioned.

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Many of those supporters will rally in protest ahead of Saturday’s must-win game against Crystal Palace.

West Ham were warned this season would be one of the most competitive of the last 15 years.

But while the rest of the Premier League, bar Aston Villa, were out breaking the Premier League spending record for a transfer window, West Ham were pleading PSR poverty.

A vote of no confidence in the owners from West Ham’s Fan Advisory Board shows who they feel is ultimately to blame for the situation.

Hammers fans have watched the departure of Daniel Levy from Spurs with envy.

Time will tell whether Levy was truly holding Tottenham back.

But while Hammers supporters renew their fight to remove David Sullivan and Karren Brady, the immediate issue is on the pitch.

And whatever the chaos above him at the London Stadium, Potter should be doing better.

West Ham have won a dismal six times in 24 games under the ex Brighton boss, who was chewed up and devoured by the Chelsea job.

Expectations in east London are nowhere near as voracious – yet Potter is struggling to cope with those too.

Losing at home to Tottenham is a sore one for any Hammers manager. But to roll over and submit so insipidly piles the pressure on Potter.

Word is Potter may have been sacked had West Ham lost to Forest before the international break.

A shock win meant that theory was not tested.

Spurs star trolls Potter over West Ham setup

But the manner of the defeat to Tottenham has seen the likes of Nuno Espirito Santo linked as Potter’s potential replacement at West Ham.

Now a Spurs star has trolled Potter and it will surely have West Ham considering change – in more ways than one.

The jibe comes at a time when pressure is already mounting.

The galling thing for West Ham supporters about the defeat to Spurs was that everyone in the stadium, and those watching at home, could see that first goal coming.

Potter pushing to spend a club record £15.5m fee for a goalkeeper on Mads Hermansen looks even more unfathomable with every passing week.

The Hammers boss is sticking with the Dane, who has such little command of his box that he has earned damning comparisons to Roberto – widely regarded as the worst West Ham goalkeeper of all time.

While the defeat to Spurs was not exclusively Hermansen’s fault, it was clear from the first minute that Frank had specifically targeted the 25-year-old, who is shorter than Lukasz Fabianski and a full 10cm smaller than Alphonse Areola.

Everyone could see that was the case and Hermansen is also not being helped by Potter brainlessly sticking to zonal marking from set-plays.

West Ham have given away a record 32 corners in four Premier League games – conceding from six of them.

If that is not proof something needs to change then what is?

Now Tottenham’s own players are making it clear Potter needs to change his ways.

Being outed by rivals must have West Ham considering change

Joao Palhinha was a big target of West Ham’s before he joined Bayern Munich.

He is back in the Premier League with Spurs and if West Ham valued his talent as a player previously, perhaps they should value his opinion too.

Speaking after helping Spurs to an easy win over West Ham, Palhinha admitted they targeted Hermansen and Potter’s preference for zonal marking.

“It was one of the areas we tried to explore because we knew we were stronger in that moment of the game,” Palhinha told The Athletic.

“We started to put more focus on set pieces and we did well. Congratulations to the coach and staff because sometimes people only speak about the players, but the staff played an important role in this.

“They choose the position for the players (to take up inside the box), so we need to share this moment with them.”

The most astonishing thing is Potter doesn’t seem to see the issue.

After the game the Hammers boss said he felt his side defended corners well and that the zonal marking worked well until the goal.

Surely a Tottenham player coming out and publicly highlighting your biggest weakness will force Potter to change his ways?

If not then it must have the owners thinking of a change of their own.

Whether they could be trusted to make the right appointment to replace Potter is another matter entirely.

Tottenham went out and paid the money to get a coveted manager like Frank. The difference is night and day.

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

If Potter does not address this glaring issue then West Ham will find themselves staring into the abyss very quickly.

All eyes were on Mohammed Kudus as he returned to West Ham victorious with Tottenham Hotspur following his controversial summer move.

In the cold light of day the only people to blame for Mohammed Kudus leaving West Ham for bitter rivals Tottenham are the club’s board.

Kudus was always going to be leaving in the summer when West Ham started pleading PSR poverty.

The Hammers could have sold him to Chelsea but turned down a player plus cash swap deal involving Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

West Ham made their own bed and the fact they had to sell to Spurs for the first time in over 14 years speaks volumes of the state the club is in.

In the end Kudus’ performance against the Hammers was pretty typical.

The head down merchant is one of the best dribblers around but has no end product and Tottenham will find the same frustrations soon enough.

Kudus all show but Spurs rout drowned out West Ham jeers

It was all show as usual, quite literally, as Kudus showboated with a pointless backheel control – something he did on a regular basis at West Ham.

The Ghanaian did not help himself by burning bridges with West Ham as he declared his love for Spurs when unveiled in north London.

Tottenham have been incessantly goading West Ham with posts about Kudus before, during and after the game.

The former Ajax attacker was booed and jeered throughout.

The biggest cheer of the day from the Hammers fans came when a ball boy refused to give Kudus the ball for one of his plethora of corners.

Tottenham had so many of them, West Ham fans actually got bored of booing Kudus.

El Hadji Malick Diouf keeping Kudus quiet as least spared Hammers supporters the ignominy of him scoring or assisting.

But West Ham fans have been venting their fury at another meek surrender from Graham Potter and his side the moment Tottenham took the lead.

The Hammers roll over and have their bellies tickled at the first sign of adversity under Potter, who has been criticised over a perceived lack of leadership.

In the build-up to the game, Potter refused to take the Kudus bait as he was quizzed on his return to West Ham with Spurs.

What Kudus did to Potter and said to backroom team is revealed

The Hammers boss even refused to mention Kudus by name or offer any pleasantries about him, which is usually par for the course in those circumstances.

West Ham fans are not sure Potter truly grasps the rivalry between the two clubs.

Particularly after he angered them by saying he hoped they would go on and win the Europa League last season.

How naïve and ill-advised those comments look now.

Spurs winning the Europa League meant qualification for the Champions League and an instant £100m transfer funds advantage over the likes of West Ham.

An advantage Tottenham used to take one of Potter’s best players away in the summer window.

Although Spurs making Europe’s top competition gave Potter another convenient excuse after the insipid 3-0 defeat as he trotted out that West Ham struggled to compete with “Champions League side Spurs”.

The same “Champions League side” that finished 17th last season, three places below Potter’s hapless Hammers.

Kudus kept his emotions in check as he was understandably barracked by the home support.

You don’t leave West Ham for Tottenham and then come back expecting a warm reception. Especially when you go on to say things like ‘I only wanted Spurs’.

Now what Kudus did to Potter and said to the West Ham backroom team in the Spurs rout has been revealed.

The Ghanaian forward’s actions towards Potter were actually caught on camera and have driven fierce opinion among supporters.

And the words he shared with the backroom team have been revealed by a Hammers journalist.

Kudus embraced Potter and grateful for stool return

A reporter for 3 Sports Ghana was following Kudus’ return to the London Stadium.

And he captured footage of Kudus making a point of running over to Potter, after lining up ready for kick-off, to embrace his former boss and salute the West Ham bench.

Kudus is then seen shaking hands with Lucas Paqueta on the pitch.

While it is a touch of class from Kudus, West Ham fans felt the whole situation summed up the lack of bite and spite in their team for the biggest derby of the season.

After the game Kudus was also seen speaking to West Ham’s backroom staff near the family enclosure at the stadium.

Roshane Thomas claims the Hammers were returning the winger’s wooden elephant stool to him that he used for celebrations after scoring in West Ham home games.

Thomas claims Kudus had a brief chat as he received the Ghanaian stool back and duly thanked West Ham for returning it.

So much for being sworn enemies. Many fans have remarked it is further proof that ‘the game has gone’.

A penny for Roy Keane’s thoughts.

There is no love lost between West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur so what El Hadji Malick Diouf did after the 3-0 defeat was rather naïve.

Believe it or not the end of this season will mark 20 years since the infamous lasagne-gate incident when West Ham welcomed Tottenham to east London.

Spurs were visiting Upton Park on the final day of that season looking to clinch a Champions League spot and West Ham were preparing to play in the FA Cup final.

Tottenham just needed to match Arsenal’s result against Wigan in order to clinch the final Champions League spot at their bitter rivals’ expense.

A delicious possibility so good Spurs could almost taste it until disaster struck from an unlikely sauce.

Spurs’ team meal of lasagne caused an outbreak of vomiting and nausea among the players at their Canary Wharf hotel on the eve of the game.

A strong Hammers performance coupled with the impact of the dodgy Italian dish saw Tottenham lose 2-1 and miss out on the Champions League.

Do Potter and his players get the West Ham vs Spurs rivalry?

Arsenal fans sung bubbles at Highbury to rub salt in the wound.

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After Millwall, Spurs are West Ham’s most hated rivals.

The clubs simply do not like one another on or off the pitch from the terraces to the boardroom.

Daniel Levy famously fell out with Hammers vice-chair Karren Brady over the “battle” for the London Stadium.

The now passed David Gold publicly lambasted Levy after he reneged on a deal for West Ham to sign Emmanuel Adebayor from Tottenham.

There have been bites and fights – as recently as Mohammed Kudus flooring three Spurs players just last season.

And not a single player moved between the two clubs for over 14 years until Kudus crossed the divide this summer.

The point being, West Ham and Spurs really do not like one another.

Not that you would have known it from the Hammers’ timid and meek second half surrender to their fierce foes at the London Stadium on Saturday night.

Tottenham took great pleasure in dismantling West Ham 3-0.

The result and performance has piled pressure back on Graham Potter, who was allegedly being considered by Levy as a mid-season replacement for Ange Postecoglou at Spurs before he joined the Hammers last season.

Potter has been trying to find the positives after the game.

But even one of the few who shone have somehow managed to put their foot in it.

West Ham fans must lay off Diouf after ill-advised Spurs post

However, West Ham fans must lay off El Hadji Malick Diouf after his ill-advised Spurs post.

Diouf was one of the bright sparks for the Hammers against Spurs.

The Senegal left-back looks a real find for West Ham and has been mostly excellent since his arrival in a £19m deal from Slavia Prague.

Diouf was one of the very few who could come off the pitch with his head held high.

He was West Ham’s best player on the day, keeping Kudus largely quiet. Diouf was the only one to get stuck into the former Hammer.

Going forward he looked a real threat too, providing a number of brilliant crosses only to be let down by Potter’s inexplicable decision not to play with a striker for one of the biggest games of West Ham’s season.

Hammers fans are in no mood to be antagonised at the moment.

Sarr celebrates beating West Ham and Diouf responds with love hearts

Tottenham have been trolling the Hammers with incessant posts about Kudus.

And a video emerged showing goalscorer Pape Matar Sarr laughing and joking with his international teammate Diouf about a bet they had made that the loser had to cook the winner dinner.

Taking the raw emotion out of it, the video was pretty wholesome.

But many fans have taken a different view on the fact Diouf then responded to Sarr’s social media post about beating West Ham, with love hearts.

“This is how we bounce back,” Sarr said in his post alongside a picture of him celebrating his goal at the London Stadium.

Diouf then replied in the comments with two love hearts.

Yes it is very naïve from Diouf and someone in the West Ham media team needs to have a word.

Hammers fans need to keep some perspective, though.

If every player on the pitch put in the same level of energy, effort and enthusiasm as Diouf, West Ham would be a different animal.

Hammers must cut bright spark Diouf some slack

Keep all your badge-kissing and chest thumping, Hammers fans would rather see that in the performances on the pitch.

Supporters need to give Diouf a pass in this case.

Let’s first remember he is only 20.

He probably knows West Ham vs Spurs is a big game.

But with softly-spoken, mild-mannered Potter as his manager, Diouf probably doesn’t quite realise how huge the rivalry is.

Most Hammers fans are not even sure Potter has grasped that.

Especially given he stated he wanted Spurs to go on and win the Europa League last season – which they duly did, securing Champions League football and an instant £100m advantage over his side in the summer which they used to sign one of his best players.

When Diouf arrived at West Ham he named Sarr as his best friend in football.

These are two boys who have realised – by their own admissions – every young African footballer’s dream of making it to the Premier League.

It was their first game against one another and Diouf is clearly just a nice guy with a big heart.

He will know not to do it again but let’s cut him some slack, after all he is one of the only positives so far this season.

Graham Potter has finally shown some bravery as he turned the blame on West Ham’s owners following the Spurs shambles.

West Ham came crashing back down to earth with a 3-0 defeat to rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium.

In the opening 20 minutes, the Hammers looked good for a positive result to back up their win at Forest.

But Spurs grew into the game and Graham Potter’s team selection and tactics ended up costing West Ham dear yet again.

Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen looks like a disastrous signing and Potter’s obsession with James Ward-Prowse could ultimately cost him his job.

West Ham’s ridiculous zonal marking simply does not work – as evidenced by Tottenham’s opener where six Hammers players were stood marking nobody as Pape Matar Sarr walked around to the back post and headed home completely unchallenged.

Potter poor but he is a symptom not the cause of West Ham’s ills

It was the kind of goal the Hammers simply would never have conceded under David Moyes.

West Ham may have needed to move on from Moyes to a more modern manager, but Potter is not offering enough evidence he is that man.

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The Hammers boss went into the new season knowing the jury is very much out on him.

Losing to Tottenham will always put pressure on any West Ham manager.

And Potter’s future is massively in spotlight again after another meek surrender.

West Ham have now won just six of their 24 games under Potter since he replaced Julen Lopetegui in January.

Only two of those wins have come at the London Stadium.

His record is worse than the hapless Avram Grant, who took West Ham down.

So it is no wonder the London Stadium emptied as soon as the Hammers went 3-0 down to their fierce rivals.

If West Ham’s players are going to give up so easily then the fans have every right to as well.

A growing number of Hammers fans are calling for Potter to be sacked.

He undoubtedly should be doing better but West Ham’s relegation bed has been made by a terrible summer transfer window.

Many accused Potter and his players of cowardice against Tottenham.

That was best summed up by the fact Mohammed Kudus went completely unchecked when he decided to showboat on the touchline at 3-0 up.

Brave Potter turns blame on West Ham owners after Spurs loss

But it seems the mounting pressure is finally bringing out a bit of backbone in the manager.

Because brave Potter has turned the blame on West Ham’s owners after the Spurs shambles.

West Ham fans issued a vote of no confidence in the owners and board two weeks ago.

That prompted a Hammers fan meeting with Karren Brady ahead of the Tottenham game, where supporters’ grievances were aired in a frank and professional manner.

Since then it has been claimed the meeting and action from FAB is unlikely to result in Brady resigning or David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky selling up at West Ham.

Hammers fans are also planning a show of force when West Ham take on Crystal Palace back at their soulless athletics bowl next weekend.

A protest using Sullivan and Brady’s initials under the tagline ‘No more BS’ is planned and the Hammers United fan group behind it will be hoping the defeat to Spurs will encourage more fans to join.

While Potter clearly must shoulder a lot of the blame for what is unfolding on the pitch, he has suggested the owners have left his hands tied.

The Hammers boss says the team’s problems are a direct result of a lack of backing from above, piling fresh pressure on majority owner and de facto director of football David Sullivan, secretive billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and hugely unpopular vice-chair Karren Brady.

Potter knows full well about the growing discontent among fans and protests being planned against the owners.

So his choice of words when speaking about the Tottenham defeat are very interesting indeed.

And it is the first sign of the manager publicly speaking out about the lack of backing he received to rebuild the team how he wanted in the summer window.

Potter has effectively stated West Ham have not given him the resources to build a high level squad to compete in the Premier League with the likes of Spurs, who finished 17th last season – three places below the Hammers.

As a result Potter has argued it is therefore difficult for him to compete against those sides.

Hammers boss blames board for lack of quality

“We’ve played two home games against Chelsea and Tottenham,” Potter said after the game, as reported by The Evening Standard.

“Both have competed in the Champions League and they’ve got resources to build squads that are high level. We’ve had two uncomfortable games.

“We had a good game against Forest but I understand why there’s that feeling. We have to deal with it and we have to play well and win.”

Potter may have lacked bravery by starting with no striker against West Ham’s biggest rivals besides Millwall.

But he has finally shown some with these comments.

West Ham’s summer transfer business was completely underwhelming and the signings they did make arrived too late for the manager to get them together and gel in pre-season.

El Hadji Malick Diouf and Mateus Fernandes look like good additions and Soungoutou Magassa’s cameo was impressive.

But West Ham needed much more where that came from to have a squad capable of staying up let alone competing for a top half finish.

Especially given spending among their Premier League rivals reached a new record of over £2.5bn.

The Irons lack any iron.

They needed a new commanding first-choice centre-back to replace the cowardly rabble currently masquerading as Premier League defenders in their backline.

Another creative midfielder was needed too.

How West Ham feel they can continually get away with not investing in a powerful, pacy young forward is baffling and could end up costing them their place in the top flight.

The call on signing Hermansen looks a big mistake and West Ham are a Jarrod Bowen or Crysencio Summerville injury away from being relegation certainties.

Some would say turning the blame on the owners is brave, others may say it is stupid.

But if Potter is going down then it seems he is taking Sullivan, Kretinsky and Brady with him.

West Ham were comfortably beaten 3-0 by fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the first game of the post Daniel Levy era, piling pressure on David Sullivan and Karren Brady.

Next summer marks 10 years at the London Stadium for West Ham since the move from Upton Park.

The Hammers won a drawn-out “battle” with Tottenham Hotspur for the former Olympic Stadium.

How West Ham fans wish their club had rolled over and surrendered that particular battle as comfortably as they did their latest miserable game against Spurs in the soulless athletics bowl.

Hammers supporters are reminded every other week by away fans visiting the London Stadium: ‘you sold your soul for this s——-‘.

Spurs defeat piles pressure on West Ham owners

They’re right in one regard.

Except it wasn’t West Ham fans who sold their soul for the move, it was the club’s owners David Sullivan and the now passed David Gold who did the deed, with reviled vice-chair Karren Brady overseeing what she boldly stated was the ‘most successful football stadium migration ever’.

A large number of Tottenham fans have painted Daniel Levy as the worst possible person you could have heading up your football club down the years.

West Ham fans would point to the fact Levy wanted to bulldoze the London Stadium as proof he knew what he was doing.

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Levy went away and built Tottenham one of the finest football stadiums in the world.

Now he is gone, to much celebration from Spurs fans who claim he has always held them back.

West Ham fans planning to protest against Sullivan and the board hope their activism will ultimately see him and Brady follow Levy’s lead one way or another.

A protest is scheduled for next week’s home game against Crystal Palace.

Hammers fans are also rallying to boycott the Brentford game altogether.

The boycott started early, though, as the London Stadium emptied faster than a Usain Bolt race at this stadium when it was being used for the only purpose for which it is fit.

Graham Potter will deservedly take plenty of flak for West Ham’s defeat to Tottenham.

Journalist sends brutal Sullivan and Brady message to Spurs fans

Despite the clear failings elsewhere, Potter should and could be doing much better than six wins in 24 matches.

But supporters have long since made their minds up where the blame rests.

Now a top journalist has sent a brutal Sullivan and Brady message to Spurs fans after the West Ham rout.

Hammers fans were lured away from their beloved Boleyn Ground on the promise it would enable the club to compete with the elite in the transfer market.

The ultimate goal behind the move, West Ham’s board told supporters, was to push for Champions League football.

Well forget the Champions League, because West Ham United are looking increasingly likely to bring up a decade at their rented home by being in the Championship.

The Hammers have shipped eight goals in their first two home games of the new season, losing to Chelsea 5-1 and Spurs 3-0.

Those clubs are historically West Ham’s biggest rivals outside of Millwall.

You wouldn’t know it watching the performances.

The atmosphere in the London Stadium matched the apathetic nature of the performance on the pitch.

Sullivan and Brady shambles gives ungrateful Spurs perspective

You could hear a pin drop at times and it may prove to be the calm before the storm ahead of the Palace protest next weekend.

An impending sense of doom has descended on east London.

And the situation has been perfectly summed up by the Telegraph’s Matt Law.

In a scathing assessment of West Ham’s defeat to Tottenham, Law has hit the nail on the head in a message to Spurs fans.

His report titled: “West Ham fans are watching a poor team in a terrible stadium with a board they hate” is as true as it is depressing.

“If Tottenham Hotspur supporters thought they had it bad under former chairman Daniel Levy, then imagine how West Ham United fans must be feeling,” Law states.

“The post-Levy era started with a bang for Spurs, but it’s same old, same old for West Ham supporters who are stuck watching a poor team in a stadium they cannot stand with a chairman and vice-chair they want out.”

A man and two goals down during Saturday’s Premier League derby clash with Tottenham Hotspur, these were not the circumstances in which Soungoutou Magassa wanted to introduce himself to the West Ham United faithful.

But if there are any positives to come out of another heavy loss for Graham Potter’s men, then the £14 million signing from Monaco looks certain to be one of them.

On a night in which Mads Hermansen was exposed once again in the West Ham United goal, while a red card for Tomas Soucek gifted Tottenham a far easier win than Thomas Frank was expecting, there were at least a few green shoots.

Crysencio Summerville and El Hadji Malick Diouf showed glimpses of a genuinely excellent partnership down the left-hand side.

Mateus Fernandes wasn’t quite as impressive as against Nottingham Forest – Carlton Cole called the Portugal Under-21 ace ‘exceptional’ after that 3-0 win – but the ‘different dimension’ Potter talked about was clear to see once again.

And, making his Premier League debut off the bench with 61 minutes on the clock, Soungoutou Magassa’s arrival comes at the perfect time for a club who will be without Soucek for the next three matches.

West Ham United fans impressed by Soungoutou Magassa despite Tottenham Hotspur loss

In truth, the result was pretty much written in stone before Magassa stepped onto the London Stadium turf for the first time.

Former Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola was frustrated to see Lucas Bergvall drift in between Konstantinos Mavropanos and Kyle Walker-Peters, the Swede doubling Tottenham’s lead only seven minutes after Soucek’s removal.

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The silver lining, though, is that West Ham’s brightest performers were once again some of the newer faces in Potter’s roster. While James Ward-Prowse, Max Kilman and co continue to underwhelm, the additions of Fernandes, Diouf, Magassa and the return of Summerville at least gives a long-suffering fanbase something to hold onto.

“What I learned at the London Stadium today,” one fan wrote on X. “Magassa is awesome and should have started, Diouf is amazing, [but] our keeper is too short and he doesn’t make up it up with talent. As bad as the score is, we played well in the first-half. The sending off screwed us.

“Can I say, Magassa looked really tidy all things considered,” another says. “If we’re sticking with that front four, him and [Freddie] Potts as a two sounds nice and balanced

“Magassa looks good.”

“That first 30 mins was good. Everything after that was awful. Magassa looked alright when he came on.”

“He had to start Magassa over ‘JWP’ and [Callum] Wilson over Soucek with ‘Paq Man’ dropping deeper. Potter has lost us this game, not the red card!”

Hammers fans urge Graham Potter to start Magassa during Tomas Soucek absence

The stats from his time at Monaco suggest that Magassa has shades of Moises Caicedo from a defensive standpoint, while also possessing the ability to break lines with eye-catching forward passes.

Only Diouf completed more tackles than him despite the France Under-21 international playing the final half hour, while Magassa also produced a 91 per cent pass completion rate during his time on the pitch.

There was also one excellently-timed intervention to deny Mohammed Kudus a shot at goal. On another punishing evening, at least the returning Kudus didn’t add insult to injury.

Potter now has the ideal opportunity to get Magassa up to speed with English football with Soucek unavailable for the upcoming clashes with Crystal Palace, Everton and Arsenal.

“Drop Ward Prowse for Magassa, play an actual striker, and maybe we have a chance this season,” another fan writes. “Problems go much deeper than that but we’re not looking good either way. Fernandes, Bowen and Diouf our brightest sparks

“Magassa looked decent on the ball.”

“Magassa looks promising and we now have some pace in the squad. JWP as vanilla and ineffective as ever. Soucek’s horrible control and subsequent sending off could turn out to be a blessing.”

“Having Soucek and JWP in a midfield two doesn’t work. I love the bloke, been great for us over the years, but Soucek can’t keep up anymore. He’s 30 paired alongside another 30 year-old. It won’t work in the Prem. Teams are now much younger and much more athletic. Magassa needs to start.”

“On the plus side, Magassa looks an absolute beast.”

Graham Potter might not have enjoyed seeing West Ham United fall to pieces in yet another Premier League match, but a few standout individual displays at least provide some semblance of hope.

To think, before they suffered the quadruple whammy of Tomas Soucek’s red card and a trio of Spurs goals in the space of just 17 ruinous second-half minutes, there was a lot to be positive about at the London Stadium.

Lucas Paqueta had a glorious chance to give West Ham United the lead after some typically purposeful stuff from Mateus Fernandes.

El Hadji Malick Diouf whipped in one of his trademark crosses, while Kyle Walker-Peters justified his continued involvement over Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the other flank.

And though all that good work would be undone – Mads Hermansen conceded from another set-piece as Pape Sarr gave Spurs the lead moments after the interval and Tomas Soucek’s red card killed the match as a contest – Graham Potter feels that there were at least a few performances worth building upon.

Graham Potter praises five West Ham United players despite Tottenham Hotspur defeat

The front four of Paqueta, Fernandes, Jarrod Bowen and particularly Crysencio Summerville carried plenty of promise and a fair amount of threat, capably supported by West Ham’s two new full-backs.

Soungoutou Magassa’s eye-catching cameo also came at a pretty good time, given that Soucek will be unavailable for upcoming clashes with Crystal Palace, Everton and Arsenal.

“I thought [the forwards] were supported well with Kyle Walker-Peters on the right, and supported well with Malick Diouf on the left,” Potter tells the club’s official website.

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“Mateus was good, coming back from international duty was not easy for him. It was Cry’s first start and there’s positives there that Malik was really good, that Soungou did well in difficult circumstances when he came on.

“Kyle, I thought played well, so there were individuals that were there. But it’s difficult to say that because the scoreline is what it is and we’re all hurting from that.”

Potter feels West Ham can build on first-half display despite 3-0 loss

For Potter, the biggest frustration is that Tottenham barely created an opening of note before Sarr found himself with the freedom of East London at the back post.

And while he was still one of the better performers on the day, former Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola was less than impressed with Walker-Peters’ positioning as Lucas Bergvall deepened the gloom moments after Soucek’s red card.

“I don’t think Tottenham’s chances against us created too much at all,” Potter argues. They had pressure and set-pieces which is what we had to deal with and again I thought we dealt with them well until the start of the second-half when we made a mistake,”

“And that’s again the level, the detail, the margins and then we went 1-0 behind and quickly went down to ten men. The game changed at that point and then it’s an uncomfortable second half for us, there’s no doubt.

“We want to give our supporters more but, when the scoreline was what it was, it was a difficult evening for the boys.

“We’ve played two games at home against the World Club champions [Chelsea] and another team that’s also in the Champions League, so there’s quality against us. Nevertheless, we’re disappointed because we wanted to do better, we wanted to have more points.

“For the first half, I thought it was a decent performance. There were lots of positives in the first half and that’s the painful thing because the scoreline in the end is completely unpleasant for us.

“But at the same time there were glimpses of positivity, I thought, especially in the first half. Like I said, the second half, the game goes away from us so quickly and that’s the level and we have to learn from that. Like I said, the first half is what we have to focus on and remain positive.”