at Spurs.
Lads, it’s Newcastle. It’s Newcastle at home. Lads, it’s Newcastle managed by Steve Bruce. Lads, it’s that Steve Bruce and the winless Newcastle… the hopeless Newcastle. Lads, what are you doing, losing to this lot?
Well the usual suspects did what they usual do for Spurs in such games.
A flat back Newcastle 10 saw Spurs players cram everyone into a space as wide as the visitor’s 18 yard box, trying to squeeze their way through the non existing gaps have all the ball, nearly 80%, while having fewer attempts on goal.
Why do we get narked? It’s always the same, nothing changes, we should be more than used to it by now.
While Newcastle lob a ball over the midfield to their striker, all on his lonesome at the edge of the box for him to score, what turned out to be, the winner.
All through this Spurs fans know that nothing will be changed, it’ll carry on and on in the same manner. Nothing will happen until 15 minutes after half-time, unless something is forced on Poch. And with the predictability that scarred this whole match as the hour ticked round here comes the change.
Well, in game one Spurs were losing, they replaced Winks and won. In game two they were losing, took Winks off and drew. Game three and here the moment to win the game came and Poch blew it. He was going to replace Winks but Walker-Peters had just gone down injured holding his thigh, hamstring. So Poch didn’t remove his little scamp, Winks. Eriksen and Lo Celso came on as planned but to replace Lamela and KWP.
So with Winks remaining on the pitch Spurs lost. The position they’ve been when he’s been on the pitch inflicting death by a thousand sideways passes.
Jermaine Jenas was lauding his link up play between the defence and those further forward. You know picking the ball up from Toby, when almost level with Toby and then passing it sideways. That link up play. The type that gets you no further forward than if Toby had passed it sideways to someone.
No wonder Jenas loves him they’re similar in many ways. They offer you nothing. Inconsequential players. Masters of the back to you ball. You know the one, player A has someone on him so passes to player B who passes it straight back to A. He did that with Toby, the ball flying back past the defender who wasn’t expecting it and the look Toby gave him… well, we all know what you were thinking Toby, we all know.
Against teams like this Spurs need to be on it and they require the minimum of touches and to be all looking forward. Winks gives them a license to just fanny about with sideways coward balls. Bottling all responsibility. It needs quick one, two touch stuff, which is Spurs at their best it wasn’t happening for any of them here. Far too many touches. Far too lethargic to really bother this massed defence.
Lot of headless running about and not much else bar the revenge of the VAR. How this wasn’t given first by Mike Dean and then by the VAR is beyond most. The problem with VAR is the best refs are on the pitch, and they are awful, so what is left in the booth but the dregs.
https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1165673608154419203
When that’s turned down you know ho things are gonna go. I mean their keeper didn’t even have to have a highlight reel game, he was barely tested. Moura’s miss at the back post summed everything up.
Nothing in all of this is helped by the things Poch said after the game, especially with the things he’s said before the game and everything since the CL final. At times you think he’s trying to talk himself out of the club. Is this really helping the players? Are they bothering to play for him? And I mean, losing to Steve Bruce, it shouldn’t help you get another job in the game.
It was good to have Son back though…