Paul Merson has backed Tottenham to beat West Ham, but he believes that the “Spursy” DNA is still there to be taken advantage of.
Tottenham Hotspurs’ 3-2 defeat against Brighton made them the first team in Premier League history to go 2-0 up and still lose the match on 10 separate occasions – leading second place by 3 games.
When people call Spurs bottlers, it’s not because it’s just a funny joke, but it’s genuinely embedded in their DNA. In the words of Giorgio Chellini “It is the history of the Tottenham”.
While they’ve been excellent at showing what makes Spurs ‘Spursy’, Paul Merson believes the North London side will edge out a narrow win against West Ham. “This is a massive football match due to the big rivalry between the two sides,” Merson explained. “Tottenham looked great for 45 minutes against Brighton before the international break, but they eventually ended up doing what they’re known for during that 3-2 loss. The ‘Spursy’ tag seems to never leave them.”
“We saw the same thing happening during the game against Leicester, now it’s happened again. When they’re 2-0 up and cruising, everything seems great. But as soon as they concede, no one wants to stand up for each other. That’s a worrying trend and a huge problem for Ange Postecoglou.”
“Spurs crumble too quickly under pressure. We’re only in October and we’ve seen it happen twice now. They were probably playing their best team against Brighton, I really don’t think there’s a lot wrong with that line up either.”
“West Ham have not lived up to the expectations,” he continued. “When Julen Lopetegui finds his best XI, they will start firing. But I still doubt if he knows that. They got a big win over Ipswich last time out and the international break probably came at the wrong time for them.”
“West Ham could be back to where they started now, and with the break giving time for things to settle down at Tottenham, I’m backing Spurs to win 2-1”.
Although he does raise some valid points, West Ham will have built some confidence from their win against Ipswich, while Spurs’ confidence will be at a real low. There’s been serious questions asked of both Lopetegui and Ange, here’s a perfect opportunity for one of them to silence their critics.