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‘Very naive’: Tim Sherwood says David Moyes made a big tactical error for West Ham against Tottenham
Talking after West Ham’s 3-1 away loss to Tottenham, Tim Sherwood told that he felt David Moyes had made a critical error in the way his side handled Tottenham’s star striker Harry Kane.
Kane was integral in Tottenham’s win on Sunday, setting up two goals and putting in a star performance as David Moyes scratched his head as to how to deal with him.
A schoolboy error from Moyes?
Harry Kane has been in scintillating form of late for Tottenham, scoring 4 goals and laying on 2 assists in his last 5 matches.
And on Sunday afternoon he seemed to have the freedom of Haringey. Every ball from defence reached him in acres of space. The willing runners of Kulusevski and Son Heung-Min ahead of him made for a torrid afternoon for the Hammers.
Tim Sherwood insisted David Moyes should have done more to prepare.
“West Ham were very naïve in the way they set up”
“David Moyes got it wrong today; it’s very difficult to criticise him over the period, because he’s done a fantastic job, but today he never looked after (Harry Kane).”
“You don’t look after that man; you’re going to get punished.”
The West Ham centre midfield duo of Declan RIce and Thomas Soucek were chasing shadows as Kane showed his agility and strfegth to turn away from them.
Kane used this space to play countless piercing through balls through the West Ham backline that Dawson and Zouma just could not deal with
It was the first time this season Declan RIce has looked out of his depth.
West Ham’s focus is on the Europa League
Moyes’ players had to give everything on Thursday night in a 2-0 extra-time win against Sevilla in the Europa league.
The result of that is the lethargy we saw on Sunday afternoon rather than a true tactical blunder.
When you’re playing against a player like Kane, mistakes are going to be punished.
Results like this are bound to come when a squad as thin as Moyes’ is fighting on 4 fronts.
Moyes seems to have now focused his attention on winning the Europa League, Michail Antonio’s withdrawal early in the second half attests to this.
If games like the one this Sunday have to be lost in the pursuit of that, that seems to be a sacrifice Moyes is willing to make.
Danny Murphy echoed this sentiment when urging Moyes to focus his efforts on the Europa League on last night.
“They’ve had a great week and they’ve had a brilliant season,” Murphy said. “They’ve punched well above their weight with the squad they’ve got and the money they’ve spent.
“I would personally, if I was David Moyes, be channelling all my energy and making sure all my best players are fit for the Europa League games against Lyon.”
Moyes will be hoping this change of focus will pay off come the end of the season. He’ll also be thanking whoever will listen that he won’t have to play Kane again.