24  Ryan FREDERICKS     
21  Angelo OGBONNA 
23  Isaa DIOP       (15  Carlos SANCHEZ  64)
  3  Aaron CRESSWELL

  7  Andriy YARMOLENKO  (18  Pablo FORNALS  56)
16  Mark NOBLE (c)
41  Declan RICE
  8  Felipe ANDERSON  (30  Mikail ANTONIO  45  )

11  Robert SNODGRASS     

22  Sebastien HALLER

Unused subs: 
25  David MARTIN
  4  Fabian BALBUENA
  5  Pablo ZABALETA
27  Albian AJETI
 

24  Serge AURIER
  4  Toby ALDERWEIRELD
  6  Davinson SANCHEZ
33  Ben DAVIES       (  3  Danny ROSE  75)

15  Eric DIER
  8  Harry WINKS

  7  Heung-Min SON 
20  DELE Alli  (23  Christian ERIKSEN  79)
27  Lucas MOURA    (17  Moussa SISSOKO  82)

10  Harry KANE      

Unused subs: 
49  Brandon AUSTIN
21  Juan FOYTH
16  Kyle WALKER-PETERS
18  Giovani LO CELSO

Spurs went to the Taxpayers Stadium on the back of a week up upheaval at the club, with the sudden departure of Mauricio Pochettino and the even more sudden appointment of Jose Mourinho.  But the bare facts are that the new man in charge presided over the first away win Tottenham had recorded since their victory at Craven Cottage over Fulham back in January and while the final score was 3-2, the gap between us and West Ham was massive.

Mourinho put out a 4-2-3-1 with pace in the attacking midfield as Son and Lucas were wide of Dele Alli and Davinson Sanchez came in alongside Alderweireld at the back, with full backs Davies and Aurier. Dier was drafted into the defensive midfield two alongside England team-mate Harry Winks. The frantic nature of the start to the match saw both sides turn over possession, but when Dele picked up the ball 25 yards out, he slipped a pass into the box that Harry Kane finished with a rising left foot shot but he was offside and a goal within three minutes was ruled out. An action replay of that move put Kane in again, but once more, he had strayed beyond the last West Ham defender.

The first effort on goal came in the eighth minute, when Fredericks crossed from the right for Haller  to get a head to the ball, but Serge Aurier did just enough to put him off and the ball came off Sanchez before it went straight to Gazzaniga. With a free kick  given to Spur son the left in the eleventh minute, Winks swung it in and Spurs were again offside, but Roberto came for the ball. Didn’t get it and it bounced off Sanchez at the other end of the pitch this time and just went wide. The pressure the keeper had been in coming into the match may well have been starting to tell in his first involvement.

Spurs seemed to be playing the ball forward and they were not playing it out from the back from goal-kicks. There was possession football at the back, but halfway up the half, with the press further up the field being a little deeper than under Pochettino. Spurs worked the ball around the 25 yard line and ended up with Son coming infield to strike with his right foot, but the keeper pushed it wide. When the ball came back in another Son shot spun wildly up into the air towards the left side of the box and Lucas got onto it, but he headed the spinning ball well wide.

Son and Kane were dropping deep to get the ball with West Ham getting numbers back behind the ball. They did break forward with Anderson on the left, but his ball into Haller couldn’t be brought under control and the move broke down. The West Ham  crowd only really got going when their goalkeeper received a back pass, giving him sarcastic cheers and when their players were fouled.  This may have been a result of having to give so many tickets away and that affected the atmosphere.  Three quick corners  put pressure on the home defence, with the final one seeing Dier under the keeper to force a weak punch that Alderweireld shot at goal, but it was blocked. When Dele took the ball off Diop, he found Son, who looked for Kane on the left from a central position, but his effort was saved.

Toby won the ball just inside his own half once it had been played forward, with Winksy picking it up and playing a ball through the middle to Dele.  Coming short, he turned and his pass left to Son saw the striker step-over the ball and fire a shot at goal that went straight through the keeper to give Jose Mourinho the first goal of his reign at Spurs in the 36th minute.  it was a good goal, but showed West Ham's weaknesses at the back and in goal.

When Son got away on the left again, Fredericks flew into a challenge that took the full weight of it on his ankle with the West Ham man’s studs showing. A booking was all the referee gave, when it was using excessive force and could have been a red card. From the free-kick, Roberto came for the ball and was nowhere near it, taking Ogbonna out in the process. But it fell to Dele, whose shot saw the goalie turn it away this time.

Davies won the ball in the air and played it to Son, who dragged the ball behind him for Dier.  Eric’s ball to Dele was a little behind him and as the midfielder fell to the floor on the touchline, he had the presence of mind to back-heel it lying on the ground for Son to go down the left. He had a free run to the box and bent a low ball across the face of goal for Lucas Moura to come in at the back  post and beat Cresswell to the ball, poking it home from a few yards out. Right on 45 minutes, Snodgrass had a shot from the left that went wide right of the Spurs goal. In added time, a Spurs corner was cleared but headed back in by Lucas and Sanchez won the ball, looping it at goal for Roberto to actually make a save by tipping it over the bar. 

Antonio came on for West ham at half-time, but it was Spurs who nearly went further ahead. Lucas took a ball out of the Spurs defence and ran it to halfway, where he played it to Son, who returned the pass to give him a run at goal. Moura reached the box and was only faced by Roberto, but rather than getting a shot on goal, he pulled it across goal perhaps caught between scoring and crossing for Dele coming in at the far post.

It didn’t matter too much, as Spurs worked the ball from left to right and Aurier flighted a cross into the far post, where Harry Kane came in to beat a weak attempt by Diop to head down past Roberto. It was another derby goal and another against West Ham for the Spurs captain and gave Spurs a 3-0 lead at the home of the 2012 Olympics. Lots of home “fans” failed to come back after half-time and more started to file out as the boos rang around this magnificent athletics stadium.

Antonio came inside from the right to shoot at goal, but Paulo took the ball head-high and it was an easy save. From it, the keeper cleared upfield and Kane got the better of Diop and looked to be on for a second goal, but the defender got back to smother his shot and avert the danger. The white seats around the home sections stood out as clearly as the booing for the manager who brought on a defensive midfielder for a centre-half, when 0-3 behind. It necessitated Rice dropping into the back four and that left the Irons’ midfield lacking. With 65 minutes gone, it was almost like the home team had given up.

Davies picked up a caution when Antonio decided to go on a run with the ball, letting Cresswell have a chance from the free-kick, but it hit Harry Kane full on the forehead and go down after taking that impact.

West Ham got a goal back in the 74th minute, when a number of scrambles in the box saw the ball go to the left. When it was played back to Noble, he played it on to Antonio, who dummied the ball past Toby on the edge of the box and shot past Gazzaniga from 12 yards out. Not only was it a goal, but Ben Davies left the field injured, after the challenge on the goal-scorer when he got booked, so Danny Rose came on, just as Mourinho was talking to Eriksen about what he wanted him to do as he was about to put him on. As it was, the change was only a little delayed, as Eriksen replaced Dele. 

With Spurs on the break, Kane’s pass for Son was intercepted, but ran to Lucas, who was pulled back by Carlos Sanchez. Kane struck it from 30 yards out straight at Roberto, who got cheered for stopping it.  When substitute Sissoko was fouled, West Ham would not put the ball out and Kane fouled Snodgrass to stop the game. The Scottish midfielder got up and grabbed Kane and threw him to the floor. Players gathered around and it looked as though it might kick off, but both players were handed yellow cards, while Sissoko limped off the pitch awaiting being called back on by the officials. 

A late corner came in from the West Ham right and Haller won the header down at goal, but Declan Rice put the ball into the net from close range and  somehow it took VAR to rule it out in the last minute of normal time. Haller won another header from a Snodgrass cross, but didn’t get much power behind it and it his Antonio to take any pace there was off it as it went through to Gazzaniga.

The West Ham captain fouled Kane in the same way that Kane had fouled Snodgrass, but there was no booking, but then there is no point, as Noble is not worth the effort. As added time went on, light blue and purple seats became evident, with the Irons’ faithful not willing to stay until the end of their Cup Final.  They   nearly got something when Antonio’s turn past Sissoko and low ball in, where it hit Alderweireld and Paulo reacted well to turn the ball aside. Many of the remaining home fans thought that it had gone in as it rippled the side-netting. It was only a corner, but when it came in, but Ogbonna lost Sanchez and squirted a low volley past Gazzaniga to make it 2-3. It was a soft goal to concede, but the final whistle went almost as soon as the match was restarted and it gave Tottenham their first away win since January and a flying start to Jose Mourinho’s era at the club.

A win is a win, but you have to remember that this was only West Ham United we were playing. 

There were some indications that this was not the same style of play that Poch instilled in the side.  Less playing the ball out of the back and a bit more of getting the ball upfield and pressing from there, which worked as West Ham were very obliging in handing over the ball on a large number of occasions.  It was obvious that Mourinho had told Kane not to be so nice and he was putting himself about and taking a fair bit of niggly fouling from the Irons defenders too. While a lot of Tottenham’s play centred around the new midfield selections, it was Dier and Alli who were the main pivots. Dier’s passing wasn’t always that great, but he moved the ball around and played some good forward passes.

It was disappointing to see Mr. Club not wearing a Spurs coat, just a plain raincoat (will we be the new man in the raincoat's Blue and White Army ?), but maybe that will come. Seeing him on the Spurs bench is still a little odd and I’m missing Jesus Perez’s glare.  But I suppose I will get used to it in time. 

Winning his first game with new clubs has been Mourinho's thing after losing his first game in management, so three points are most welcome, but harder challenges are to come and the side need to tighten up at the back to prevent letting teams back into matches.  This would have been an ideal opportunity to improve our goal difference and at 3-0 we should have gone for the jugular.  To let them get a couple of goals, even with the second being with the last kick of the match, is not the stuff of champions.  So, if that is what Mourinho wants to make us, he has a lot of work to do.

It won't happen overnight, but I am sure that if he can achieve that, any past views Spurs fans might have of him will change.

Kirk Hammerton