After recovering from an initial scare, Tottenham eliminated a weak West Ham | first division

Ange Postecoglou was on hand to witness another defensive outburst, but this time he wasn't the coach who had to deal with the fall. For Tottenham, it was a joy to become the latest team to expose the many flaws of Julen Lopetegui's so-called revolution at West Ham.

It wasn't hard to take Lopetegui's reputation as a tactical genius seriously during a match in which his brilliant team was decimated by three goals in the space of eight crazy second-half minutes. If there was resistance from West Ham, who fortunately lost 4-1, Mohamed Kudus only saw red for trying to tackle at least three Spurs players in the final minutes. But otherwise? There is only one word to describe it: surrender.

Interestingly, West Ham tried to test Spurs' character early on. But after taking the lead through Kudus, everything fell apart. Inspired by Dejan Kulzewski and Son Heung-min, the Spurs were more fluid, efficient and aggressive.

Postecoglou had to answer the usual questions about his gung-ho methods after the collapse against Brighton. He responded by making two changes, replacing Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield with Yves Bissouma and Son returning from injury, but with no changes to the overall strategy.

West Ham will have to be on the edge with James Maddison and Kulusevski to build up the middle, pressing hard from the start. Dominic Solange, Brennan Johnson and Son went close in the early stages.

However, for all their enterprise, Spurs were still wide open without the ball and were unlucky not to concede in the eighth minute, when Guglielmo Vicario saved brilliantly after dealing with a Jarrod Bowen cutback with a wave.

West Ham had joy on the right wing. Spurs were too hesitant to clear their lines after another attack. Receiving a pass from Aaron van-Bissaka, it was all too easy for Bowen to find Kudus beyond Destiny Udoki and he would not waste another opportunity to punish such a tough defence.

But Spurs came back, Johnson missed from close range and Pedro Boro capitalized on a smart save from Alphonse Arola. Lopetegui must have realized that West Ham's lead was unassailable as the barrage of instructions from the touchline became increasingly frantic.

West Ham are vulnerable to pace. They wanted to be open with the ball but lacked the ability to deal with Spurs' pressure and were left exposed when another move failed. Maddison had time to run towards a retreating defense and feed Kluszewski, who cut in from the right, beat Guido Rodríguez and fired a cross towards the goal, surprising Areola, who could only see him take the ball with a weak hand and turn it. Line after hitting both posts.

The Spurs finished the half on top, with more chances coming and going, with the irrepressible Kluczewski at the center of it all. West Ham had to adjust and stiffen it to provide extra protection for Max Gilman and Jean-Clair Todibo.

If anything, the differences were even more visible after halftime. Is there a slower and more inconsistent midfield trio in the league than Tomás Sucek, Lucas Paquetá and Rodríguez? Is there anything more ridiculous than Lopetegui waiting until West Ham were 4-1 down before finally making the three substitutions scheduled from the moment Pizzoma put Spurs ahead in the 52nd minute?

While, to be fair, the Spurs' offense is exciting, the slowness is ridiculous. They were in front when Son made a pass behind Van-Bissaka, who saw Udogi turn and finish easily past Pissauga. They went wide and soon attacked again, a move from Kulzewski setting up Son for a shot from Todibo.