West Ham have played leading roles in plenty of awful games down the years but surely none have been quite this pointless or downright insulting to the paying public. At least there was an excuse for Tottenham, whose season rests on them holding their nerve in the Arctic Circle this week. There is no equivalent silver lining for West Ham. They are limping towards the finish line and the only takeaway from this performance is that only a major overhaul of a stale, demotivated squad will help them avoid further turmoil next season.
There has been no uplift since Graham Potter, whose side look likely to finish 17th after they missed a chance to overtake Spurs and extended their winless run to eight games, replaced Julen Lopetegui in January. West Ham have taken 14 points from 15 games under Potter and they approached this meeting with Ange Postecoglou’s B Team with a staggering lack of enthusiasm. Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were the only players to emerge with any real credit. A passionless 1-1 draw, secured when Wan-Bissaka sent Bowen through to cancel out Wilson Odobert’s early goal, was met with deserved boos at a bored London Stadium.
