Tim Sherwood criticised Lucas Moura on Premier League Productions (21/02/21 at 12:55 pm) for ‘sleeping on the edge of the box’ just before Michail Antonio scored against Tottenham on Sunday.
It was a dream start for those in Claret and Blue, who scored early in the first and second half to seal a valuable three points against struggling Spurs.
Even though Jose Mourinho’s men dominated the second period, it was the Hammers who walked away with the points and the bragging rights.
Ex-Spurs boss Sherwood noticed Moura’s role in Antonio’s goal and how he didn’t match Pablo Fornal’s run.
If the Spurs attacker followed Fornals then he would have been able to head the ball away from reaching the eventual goalscorer.
“I’m not sure (Lloris can do much more),” said Sherwood. “At first, I thought ‘yes, he can be a little bit braver’. But I don’t think you can blame him for that.
“Lucas Moura goes to sleep. He’s sleeping there at the edge of the box. Fornals gets a run on him.
“Then it attracts the defenders across and Antonio picks the hole in between the defence and gets in between them.”
Well, Moura wasn’t sleeping when he scored Tottenham’s only goal of the game following a corner from Gareth Bale.
But that wasn’t enough, and hasn’t been enough, from a Spurs side that is heading towards finishing outside of the European places this season.
If that happens, and Jose Mourinho fails to deliver a trophy, then it’s hard to see him walking Tottenham’s touchline next season.
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