Fan blogger Joe Difford analyses Sunday's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur...
Slaven Bilic’s post-match comments after the disappointing loss to Spurs said it all really; it was a bad day at the office all round.
The first game without Dimitri Payet was always going to be a tough one and although he is certainly not the only important man, he has had a part to play in 35% of our goals, so was always going to be missed.
Without a like-for-like replacement, Bilic opted to field two strikers, with Diafra Sakho partnering Andy Carroll, but dropping to the right hand side when defending, which sadly was quite often.
You have to admire the manager’s desire to go to the home of our London rivals and make a statement of intent with two forwards, regardless of the result.
Without Payet in the number 10 role, however, the midfield felt as though it lacked that little spark of excellence and although Manuel Lanzini and Victor Moses had a decent game, it did look as if the pair were doing a job meant for three.
Spurs started well, retaining possession and pressing us back into our own half and a quick-fire double from Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld knocked us for six.
Our reaction was excellent, and Cheikhou Kouyate almost scored twice within a minute, but Lady Luck was just not on our side.
Skipper Mark Noble led by example, and didn’t stop running or trying to pinch the ball from the opposition, but Tottenham were alert and passed well.
Kane’s second goal, straight after half time, was a tough pill to swallow, as a defensive mistake allowed the England striker to capitalise.
From that moment, it was clear that no matter what we did, it just wasn’t going to be our day, but the boys in claret and blue never looked like giving up, and managed to pull one back through Manuel Lanzini, although not until Kyle Walker had made it four.
Although many will want to brush Sunday’s game under the rug and start fresh against West Brom next week, it is important to keep the disappointing loss in mind.
With Bilic tasked with finding a new system that accommodates a replacement for Payet and integrating those who have been out injured all season, it was never going to be a quick fix.
Alex Song got some minutes under his belt, and perhaps with three across the middle, allowing anyone to drift forward, Lanzini and Moses can stay out wide and provide support for whoever is picked to lead the line.
Next week’s game against West Brom is an important one, as it is imperative that we pick ourselves up, learn from our mistakes, and take all three points in front of the home support.
Bilic has said that Michail Antonio’s time will come, and perhaps that will be the case next weekend.
Although the defeat to Spurs was hard, there was no one particular area that struggled, and instead it was simply a bad day at the office across the board.
The defence struggled throughout, but when the back line is changing every week because of injuries, there are bound to be teething problems and take nothing away from Spurs, they were simply the better side on Sunday, and remain unbeaten since the opening day of the season.
Now that the squad is almost back to full fitness and the new Payet-less side have begun to gel, Bilic and Co. should be able to pick up a win against the Baggies next week.
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