Steve McClaren found out to his considerable cost what happens if you allow Croatian Luka Modric too much time and space.

Last night, at Upton Park, it was Gianfanco Zola's turn to learn a similarly harsh lesson.

Ledley King may have been the Tottenham hero, scoring his first goal for almost three years in a 2-0 win but it was Modric who really unhinged Zola's West Ham on his return from injury.

Modric wasn't the only difference between these two teams desperate to pull away from the wrong end of the League, but he was the main one.

Don't expect him to do too much tracking back if he loses the ball and don't hold your breath for him to make too many tackles.

But give Modric the ball and he can destroy you. Just ask former England coach McClaren and now Zola (below), who used to play with similar guile. Harry Redknapp, who can do no wrong when he returns to Upton Park, knows how to get the best out of the Croatian.

"We have a little boy, Modric, who plays in behind and you need to give him the ball," said Redknapp. "We did that better in the second half and the more influential he became."

Even Zola had to admit that Modric posed problems, particularly as the game opened out in the second half, that he never really solved.

"During the first 10 minutes of the second half we were in control and then they started to play," said Zola. "Modric started to find a position behind our midfielders and that caused us problems. We lost control a bit and they scored their goal just before I could make a change."

In truth, Spurs fully deserved their win. They had more quality than West Ham and had most of the best opportunities. And on the rare occasions that an otherwise punchless West Ham threatened, goal-hero King looked unflappable despite a knee problem which ultimately may well force a premature end to his playing career.

"If Ledley was fit he would be an England player," said Redknapp.

"Unfortunately his knee is a massive problem. He didn't come out training until the day before the game and that's how it is every week for him.

"It's such a shame for such a talented, fantastic boy, that he's got a knee like that. It stops him playing and doing the thing he wants to do.

"He would be doubtful for the Manchester United game."

King's headed goal came in the 67th minute following a period of increasing Spurs dominance and they added a second, near the end, with a peach of a goal from substitute Jamie O'Hara.

It could have been even worse for West Ham with Modric shooting tamely at Robert Green inside the first minute and Roman Pavlyuchenko toe-ending Aaron Lennon's cross against an upright just before half-time.

Spurs went above West Ham as a result of this win and, with Modric restored to their team, should now begin to move higher.

For West Ham, the worries increase.

Zola was understandably confident before the match since his team had taken five out of a possible nine points including a steely goalless draw at Liverpool last week.

At home, though, when they have to take the initiative, West Ham look anaemic to say the least.

They defended stoutly enough throughout and were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after Benoit Assou-Ekotto appeared to handle a Carlton Cole header in the box.

Yet there is no fluidity in their play at Upton Park. They lack any sort of cutting edge up front and precious little width or incisiveness.

It is a problem for Zola and one that he freely admits, he must address quickly. A few weeks ago his team were leaking goals so he found a way of solving that problem.

Now, with only three goals scored in the Hammers' last nine matches, the priority has become creativity rather than prevention.

"It's not an easy situation, we know that," said Zola. "We're going to be working very hard to improve the situation. We won't panic because we have faith in ourselves. We will be working on the strikers' confidence and trying to do something. We need to put it right quickly.

"We knew we were conceding too much but now we've got to the point where we're not giving too many goals away but we have to think about scoring more. We need to find the right things to do."

Zola felt that the turning point came with referee Chris Foy's refusal to award a penalty for Asou-Ekotto's handball but, in truth, West Ham deserved little from this game.

With both teams on just 18 points, though, a lot of hard work is still needed before either Redknapp or Zola can stop looking over their shoulders.

In the meantime it doesn't get any easier for either manager with Spurs facing Manchester United next weekend while West Ham go to Chelsea.