Tottenham 0-1 Newcastle
Goals: Joelinton (£5.9m)
Assists: Christian Atsu (£5.4m)
Bonus Points: Joelinton x3, Fabian Schär x2 (£5.0m), Paul Dummett x1 (£4.5m)
Harry Kane (£11.1m) blanked for the second match in a row as Spurs were stunned by a 1-0 home defeat to Newcastle.
There was significant interest in the forward ahead of Gameweek 3, as he won the Fantasy Football Scout captaincy poll and was signed by over 300,000 managers.
However, Spurs were decidedly below par creating very few chances against a stubborn Newcastle outfit.
“We created some chances. Not too many, not enough to be honest. That is why we’re very disappointed with the performance and the result but we cannot justify our performance. We should be playing better, more desire, more capacity to be more aggressive in this type of game, because 80 per cent of possession is too much for only a few shots on target.” – Mauricio Pochettino
It is that element of Sunday’s defeat that will be of the greatest concern for Kane owners. His team looked devoid of ideas going forward and the striker himself barely had a sniff of action in front of goal.
His best chance of the match came late in the game when a ball flashed across the six-yard box that he could only snatch at and watch it trickle through his legs.
Some would also argue Kane was unfortunate not to win a penalty in the second half too as he fell to the ground in a potential coming-together with Jamaal Lascelles (£4.5m).
After a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, it was adjudged he had not been fouled but the incident has caused plenty of debate in the football world since Sunday afternoon.
Concern over Kane’s potential for the match first arose when the team-sheet was revealed on Sunday afternoon.
Mauricio Pochettino lined Spurs up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the returning Son Heung-min (£9.5m) and Lucas Moura (£7.5m) on the flanks of attacking midfield, Erik Lamela (£6.0m) at number 10 and Kane up-front.
The Spurs manager had, for the second home match in a row, decided to leave Christian Eriksen (£8.9m) on the bench, which, as expected, robbed Spurs of any creativity in midfield. Not surprisingly, he came in for severe criticism for that decision after the game.
“No, I cannot pick more than 11 players. A decision like that when you have plenty of players, but I understand a question like that. Should the result be 3-0 or 4-0 you’re not going to ask me that question but of course, I accept it. The players who are out are always good when you don’t win.” – Mauricio Pochettino
“Of course. I talk before that when you lose the game always the player that no play was the best. I accept that. With Christian, we win and without him, we lose. I accept that this situation is like this. If should be the result is 3-0 for us, we’d be talking about different things.” – Mauricio Pochettino
With Tanguy Ndombele (£6.1m) missing with injury, there was no drive in that area of the pitch either. The lack of creativity and energy in midfield appeared to be the reason why Kane had to drop deeper, and often to the left-flank.
From these positions, he was supplying crosses to the more advanced Son and Moura, although he was unable to fulfil this role as well as Eriksen could have. Meanwhile, those two forward players lacked the ruthlessness to put any of their chances away.
Moura was especially wasteful, blazing a back-post chance wide from close range and spurning a chance to score a golden chance in the second half after an impressive Moussa Sissoko (£5.0m) cross.
Crucially, it also meant that Kane was hardly ever in the penalty box to get on the end of Spurs’ supply lines.
Kane’s first clearcut chance did not come until the second minute of the second half. He received the ball from a Moura knockdown but was ruled offside anyway.
It must also be said that Son did not pass the eye test either on his immediate return to the side from suspension.
That was bad news for the 85,000 managers who took a risk on bringing him straight into their sides for Gameweek 3.
The South Korean international did not offer any of his trademark energy or guile that he displayed with such regularity last season.
In the 32nd minute, Son received a Kyle Walker-Peters (£5.0m) cross at the back-post, his fierce effort stinging Martin Dúbravka’s palms.
Other than that, it seemed clear that Son may have to take some time to settle back into the side, having not made a competitive appearance for Spurs since April.
New signing Giovani Lo Celso (£7.4m) did not add much when he came on either. The Argentinian replaced compatriot Lamela in 62nd minute but barely had a touch of the ball. At this point, Eriksen had taken to the field and all Spurs’ work was going through him, although still not producing any results.
In the 70th minute, Lo Celso had an opportunity to shoot but blasted well wide.
As for whether we should be concerned about Spurs attacking players ahead of the trip to Arsenal next week, it is probably worth holding on to them.
Spurs have now struggled to impress with Eriksen on the bench this season, labouring in the first hour of Gameweek 1 and against Newcastle.
Surely, at this point, regardless of transfer speculation, it is clear to Pochettino that the Danish international is an integral part of his team, capable of getting the best out of his other attacking assets. Owners of Spurs assets will be hoping that whatever is stopping the manager starting Eriksen abates by Gameweek 4.
“(Asked if Eriksen has played his last game for Spurs) I don’t know. I don’t know. Why you ask me? Maybe you know something. It’s so difficult, the situation. We cannot blame one party or another. That is the situation, the circumstances. We arrive today with different players and different situations in the squad but I don’t want to justify our performance because of that. I want to make clear the point. When you play football and are on the pitch you don’t think about these situations.” – Mauricio Pochettino
Should Eriksen come back into the side for the north London derby, it is hard to predict that they will not score, especially given well-documented criticism of Arsenal’s defence.
Spurs were, of course, not helped in Gameweek 3 by the compact nature of Newcastle’s set-up. Steve Bruce went with the 5-4-1 formation, ensuring that there were ten men behind the ball at all times.
There was particular praise for Paul Dummett (£4.5m) and Fabian Schär (£5.0m) as the Magpies defended for their lives at Spurs.
There was very little space in which to work in Newcastle’s penalty box, which is sure to be another factor that contributed to Spurs’ first blank of the season.
“The only way you can respond to (criticism) is by your team putting in a performance like that where the discipline, the shape, the organisation was there for everybody to see.” – Steve Bruce
It is unlikely that Arsenal will defend in quite the same way in Gameweek 4. As the home team, and one with a potent attack, they are likely to venture forward a lot more, and, therefore, leave a lot more space for Spurs to work in.
As much as Newcastle’s defensive players will take credit for this result, there were a number of impressive displays from their attacking assets.
Despite sitting deep for much of the game, the Magpies still managed seven shots in Spurs’ penalty area, just one fewer than their illustrious hosts managed. That may be of encouragement to those holding Arsenal attacking assets ahead of the north London derby. Spurs could also be without Walker-Peters for Gameweek 4 as he came off around the hour-mark with a suspected hamstring problem, Sissoko dropping into the full-back
Sean Longstaff (£5.0m) was the first to show real danger on the counter for Newcastle, firing a fierce effort at Hugo Lloris (£5.5m) in the 23rd minute and forcing an incredible save to tip it over the bar.
Their only goal of the game was a well-worked one, although Spurs defenders’ probably should have done better.
Substitute Christian Atsu (£5.4m) picked up the ball in a central midfield area and curled a pass into Joelinton (£5.9m), just over the top of Davinson Sánchez‘s (£5.5m) head. With yards of space between him and Danny Rose (£5.5m), the Brazilian rattled home a powerful finish from inside the penalty area.
“(Joelinton) has only been here a month and I thought we could play to his strengths better. We can be pretty direct with him but he can use both feet. You want to get off the mark for big money as a centre forward. He missed vs Norwich but I’m delighted for him” – Steve Bruce
There were one or two injury worries for Bruce after the game as three players had to be substituted.
One of them was Joelinton, although the manager did not indicate there was any real problem other than fatigue after a long period of playing lone striker in a 5-4-1 system.
There is more concern over midfielder Allan Saint-Maximin (£5.5m) who came off after 17 minutes with a hamstring issue, and Jamaal Lascelles (£5.0m) who was forced off after a knock to his calf. Of the two, Bruce was less positive about Saint-Maximin.
“Saint-Maximin has had a recurrence of his hamstring problem, which is a nightmare for us but the others we don’t think are too serious. Joelinton ran himself into the ground and Jamaal Lascelles hurt his calf, but we’re hopeful on those.” – Steve Bruce
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Tottenham Hotspur XI (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Rose (B Davies 88′), D Sánchez, Alderweireld, Walker-Peters (Eriksen 62′); Winks, Sissoko; Son, Lamela (Lo Celso 62′), Moura; Kane.
Newcastle United XI (5-4-1): Dúbravka; Ritchie, Dummett, Lascelles (Fernandez 82′), Schär, Krafth; Saint-Maximin (Atsu 17′), S Longstaff, Hayden, Almirón; Joelinton (Muto 88′).
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