BBC pundit loved what Michael Oliver did to Tottenham’s players against West Ham

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Tottenham battled their way to a hard-earned 2-0 win over West Ham yesterday as goals from Emerson Royal and Heung-Min Son proved enough.

Spurs were once again without Antonio Conte in the dugout. The Italian is back home recovering from his surgery and once it was left to Cristian Stellini to sort the team.

In the end, it needed another improved second half to do the business. However, Spurs players felt they could have been clear in the first 45 when referee Michael Oliver denied them a penalty.

After emerging from half-time having seen some images, the Tottenham players were surrounding Oliver looking for an explanation. And in fairness to Oliver, he did just that, in a move BBC MOTD pundit Stephen Warnock was quick to praise.

“What I like about Michael Oliver is is that there is clear communication,” Warnock said on MOTD2.

Warnock’s comments came after host Mark Chapman had spotted the Spurs players around the referee.

“When they came out for the second half they had obviously all seen the pictures and this Michael Oliver explaining to the Tottenham players that he was over balancing and that’s why I didn’t give it.”

TBR’s View: Oliver is one of the better Premier League referees

Referees will always get stick off players and fans. It’s been in the game forever and doesn’t look like going away any time soon.

However, when they do good things the refs also deserve praise. And that’s exactly what Michael Oliver did here.

He didn’t want to leave the Tottenham players continually thinking about it and instead, gave his reasoning. It closed the conversation before the second 45 even got underway, and put it out of the Tottenham players’ minds.

Tottenham, of course, didn’t need a penalty in the end. But Oliver’s communication here has been rightly praised.