David Moyes: Glenn Hoddle praises West Ham manager for tactical tweaks in derby draw against Tottenham

TNT Sports pundit Glen Hoddle was impressed with the work West Ham manager David Moyes did at half-time to galvanise his team, with the Hammers on the ropes against an inspired Spurs before coming from behind to secure a 1-1 draw.

Tottenham have been playing some free-flowing attacking football under Ange Postecoglou this season, not afraid to take chances and leave space behind.

They scored the opener in sodden conditions at the London Stadium through Brennan Johnson, only for West Ham to equalise 14 minutes later thanks to their captain Kurt Zouma.

West Ham found it difficult to contain Spurs in the first half but after the break, the Hammers emerged rejuvenated and were able to stifle Tottenham’s play

“Half-time came at a good time for David Moyes,” said Hoddle after the match. “He had them in that dressing room and they got the tactic board out and said our distances, look we’ve got to work hard and they did – every time Spurs got the ball in the first half, they had time to look up and they had two or three options on.

“Second half it was much harder for Spurs to break them down, they hardly got in behind them at all because they were half-marking in between people. As soon as it went to a player, they had one get his head down and one supporting him, but outside of the edge of their area, not upfront.

“You can press, it doesn’t always have to be up high, you can press on in a deeper position and it made it hard for Spurs.”

West Ham were beaten 4-3 by Newcastle last weekend after being 3-1 up, in what Hoddle described as a “body blow”.

It didn’t give the Hammers much time to regroup and bounce back to face Spurs, who are chasing a spot in the UEFA Champions League next season.

“They didn’t have much time on the training ground to prepare” continued Hoddle. “You’d say look you two wide men have to be half and half, they were looking to fully pick up people but in the wrong areas. And Spurs were out-numbering them in midfield.

“You go half and half, tuck them in a little bit like they did in the second half, then you can get a press on. If you give good players time on the ball, you’re in trouble but it tightened up in the second half.”

Moyes admitted to being pleased with a point after the match – saying the draw “was the right result in the end,” on a night were both teams squandered chances to grab the winner.

“Everybody knows Tottenham’s style, we had to do some changes ourselves to eliminate that, but we done a pretty good job on it," Moyes explained.

"[Their goal] put us on the back foot but fair play to the lads, they kept at it so pleased tonight with a lot of things the players did.”

West Ham remain seventh in the table, but they have their work cut out to chase Manchester united in sixth who are three points ahead with two games in hand.

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