2 good 2 bad: Positives and negatives for Spurs from the Newcastle defeat
Tottenham Hotspur failed to pick up any points from their latest visit to St. James’ Park, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Here are two good things and two bad elements from the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United last weekend.
Two good – Dominance and Dragusin
First off, Spurs absolutely dominated the game against Newcastle. The Lilywhites ended the game with 20 shots to their name, and a massive 66% of possession overall (WhoScored).
Tottenham also came away with 500 passes compared to Newcastle’s 261, and 716 touches versus the Magpies’ 478.
Obviously, the only thing that really matters is the scoreline at the end of the game, but there were plenty of positive signs that Spurs could and should be able to control matches a lot more than last season.
The amount of goalscoring opportunities created, too, suggests that on another day, they would have come away from the game with a win. With some sharper shooting and players being in the right positions, Spurs should pick up more points.
Another highlight from the game was the performance of Radu Dragusin, who faced perhaps his toughest test as a Spurs player to date.
Stepping in for the injured Micky van de Ven, Dragusin had to deal with some of the most talented attacking players in the league, most notably Alexander Isak.
Yes, Isak may have bagged the winning goal in the end, but Dragusin was able to keep the Swedish striker out of the game for the most part, and put in an absolutely crucial challenge on Isak early on in the second half.
It may not have been the result Spurs wanted, but Dragusin will be stronger for that experience, and showed that he is more than capable of covering whenever the first-choice centre-halves are absent.
Two bad – Complacency and wastefulness
The most worrying takeaway from the game is of course the manner in which Newcastle got both their goals.
The first, came as Newcastle took a quick throw-in and caught the Spurs defence napping. It was a great finish from Harvey Barnes, but there’s no way a player like that should be unmarked in the box.
Then, the winning goal arrived as the back four failed to arrange their defensive line, with three of the defenders playing Jacob Murphy onside and being unable to get back quick enough to stop the incisive move.
An argument can be made that the goal doesn’t happen if van de Ven is there, but we can’t always rely on his pace. If we are going to play such high-intensity, high-pressing football, the defence has to be able to cope with any counter-attacks that come their way.
At the other end, as mentioned, Spurs created plenty of chances, but none of them were put away. Balls were drilled across the box time and time again by Brennan Johnson, but no one was there to be on the receiving end.
Naturally, a player like Dominic Solanke or Richarlison would be in those areas to finish the moves off, but again, we should still be seeing success with the likes of Heung-min Son, Dejan Kulusevski, and Timo Werner in the attacking areas.
It didn’t take long for fans and pundits to see what Johnson was trying to do, so the fact that the players on the pitch were unable or unwilling to get in the necessary positions is a slight worry. Still, it’s unlikely to be a problem once our out-and-out strikers return.
The post 2 good 2 bad: Positives and negatives for Spurs from the Newcastle defeat appeared first on The Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.