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Slaven Bilic - 9 - Admit it, when the lineups were announced it didn’t fill you with the greatest amount of confidence. That’s okay, you weren’t alone. Without Andy Carroll and the, recently hot, Arthur Masuaku - most feared the worst was coming. Bilic went with his most tried and true lineup, ignoring the calls to bring in Havard Nordtveit and Edimilson Fernandes. Boy, did it pay off.
5️⃣ minutes 'til kick-off
— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) May 5, 2017
1️⃣ final check on tonight's starting XI#COYI #WHUTOT pic.twitter.com/kDKkVifs25
Adrian - 9 - It’s hard to pick a man of the match. Lanzini was superb in creation. Collins looked 10 years younger. Kouyate neutralized much of what Spurs tried to create. But it was Adrian who came up big time and time again when the Hammers needed him most. While Spurs couldn’t pour on the attack as they are accustomed to, the few that did get through showed Adrian’s class.
James Collins - 9 - Collins made you forget that Harry Kane was even on the pitch. Outside of a few chances, Kane was largely ineffective and found himself collecting passes up near the half line, instead of inside the box. Going on 34, Collins doens’t have much mileage left, and if this were to be one of his final starts, what a way to go.
Manuel Lanzini - 9 - Yes, nines for everyone! Just kidding, this is the last one. Lanzini was causing Tottenham’s back line fits all match. Oh yeah, and he scored the match winning goal. No big deal.
Jose Fonte - 8 - There’s a reason West Ham haven’t conceded a goal in three straight matches. Much of that is due to this man. Once Fonte settled into the squad, they’ve been a superb line in front of Adrian.
Mark Noble - 8 - Let’s forget about the crazy shots from distance and the cheeky tackle on Eric Dier. The heart this man showed on the day, the leadership exhibited, cannot be quantified. Lanzini provided the skill, but Noble gave his heart. Both equally important. (Except in my ratings)
Winston Reid - 7 - We’re not going to harp on any negatives, but Reid had a decent match, made better by his counterparts. An early booking pacified Reid’s ability a bit but he was also caught off his lines a few times. Still, he stuck with it and saw a solid performance through.
Aaron Cresswell - 7 - Did Cresswell have a good match, or did Walker have a really poor one? A bit of both, I’d say. Kyle Walker was given the nod after a full week of media speculation regarding his status with manager, Mauricio Pochettino. Unlike the Hammers, Walker did not step up to the occasion. Cresswell did deliver the cross for the eventual goal, and was strong against Walker.
Sam Byram - 7 - Spurs focused their attacks towards the young right back, with nothing to show for it. Byram was steadfast in his duty and seems to keep getting better.
Cheikhou Kouyate - 7 - Another great match from Cheikhou. There was a lot of talk prior to the match as to where Kouyate would play. Turns out Bilic put him in the perfect position and did well to press the attack, as well as stuffing most Spurs advances.
Andre Ayew - 6 - Prior to Lanzini finding the back of the net, Ayew had the best chance on the day. The work rate is there. The passion is there. Now all we need is to see the sum of all his efforts into a result.
Jonathan Calleri - 6 - I saw a lot of people on social media praise the work of Calleri against Spurs. I’m not one of those people. Yes, he was always on the back shoulder of Toby Alderweireld and Kyle Walker, but he was also constantly offsides. His chances were horribly missed and his passing was nothing to write home to Argentina about. But yeah... he ran around a lot. If this were a loss, he’d be getting far worse.