Many thanks to Declan Mulcahy for this excellent report.

Sunday 1 September 2024, 1:30pm
Premier League
Newcastle United (1) 2 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1

Newcastle scorers:-
Barnes, 37
Isak, 78

Spurs scorer:-
Burn, 56 (o.g)

Newcastle United (4-3-3): Eddie Howe
22 N Pope; 21 T Livramento, 17 E Krafth, 33 D Burn, 25 L Kelly (20 L Hall 68); 36 S Longstaff (8 S Tonali 68), 39 B Guimaraes (c), 7 Joelinton; 10 A Gordon (24 M Almiron 90+4) 14 A Isak, 11 H Barnes (23 J Murphy 61)

Subs not used: 1 M Dubravka, 2 K Trippier, 13 M Targett, 37 A Murphy, 18 W Osula

Booked: Kelly (28 foul on Son), Longstaff (41 foul on Udogie), Joelinton (45+2 foul on Dragusin), Guimaraes (58 foul on Maddison),

Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3):
1 G. Vicario; 23 Pedro Porro, 17 C Romero, 6 R Dragusin, 13 D Udogie; 29 P Sarr (22 B Johnson 45), 8 Y Bissouma (30 R Bentancur 82), 10 J Maddison (15 L Bergvall 82); 28 W Odobert (16 T Werner 74), 21 D Kulusevski, 7 H-M Son (c)

Subs not used: 20 F Forster, 24 D Spence, 33 B Davies, 14 A Gray, 45 A Devine

Booked: Sarr (34 foul on Kelly), Bissouma (48 foul on Barnes), Maddison (68 foul on Guimaraes), Bentancur (84 foul on Gordon)

St. James' Park, Attendance: 52,211

Referee: Robert Jones, Assistant Referees: Ian Hussin, Nick Greenhalgh, Fourth Official: Darren Bond, VAR: Stuart Attwell, Assistant VAR: Natalie Aspinall (Hussin and Bond switched positions after 18 minutes when Hussin sustained a muscle injury)

Spurs create chances but succumb to same old failings

Thanks to Eugene Gasper for capturing this image

After the transfer window closed on Friday Eddie Howe suggested that his Newcastle squad was not as strong as it was a year ago. Ange Postecoglou expressed his satisfaction with the way the summer had gone. Spurs had lost the last two fixtures at this ground in somewhat humiliating circumstances. Based on the relative progress over the close season this was definitely an opportunity for Spurs to reverse the trend. Spurs showed more creativity over the 90 minutes but that didn't suffice. Newcastle were more effective at putting the ball into the net and Spurs lost in a manner that was quite reminiscent of a number of defeats last season.

Spurs came to St. James' Park without a recognised number 9 as both Richarlison and new signing Solanke were injured. Micky van de Ven also suffered a late injury and was unavailable. Spurs made two changes with Dragusin and Sarr replacing van de Ven and Johnson. Kulusevski started the match as a false No. 9.

Newcastle United made one change from last weekend with Harvey Barnes replacing Jacob Murphy. Newcastle had beaten Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup on Wednesday. Six of the players who started today had put in a full 90-minute shift during that game.

Former Spurs player Kieran Trippier was the Newcastle captain last season. He seems to have fallen out of favour during the summer despite going to Germany with the English team in Euro 2024 and playing in most of the games there. He has been replaced as captain by Bruno Guimaraes and hasn't been chosen in the starting XI in any of the first three matches. There were rumours he would leave during the transfer window but it didn't happen. Presumably he isn't too happy.

Newcastle had some early opportunities. Dragusin tried to intercepted an attempted Guimaraes pass to Barnes but conceded a corner. Then Isak dispossessed Son just outside the box and his dinked shot hit the bar.

When Spurs moved the ball into the Newcastle half, the latter's tactics were clear. The back four became a back five with either Joelinton or Guimaraes moving into the final line of defence. In general it was quite effective during the 90 minutes.

Spurs had the ball in the net after eleven minutes. Porro received the ball from a short corner on the right and crossed towards the far post. Romero headed home but was clearly offside. Son sent a dangerous ball across the box but there wasn't a Spurs player to benefit from it.

There was an unusual delay after about 17 minutes when assistant referee Ian Hussin suffered a muscle injury. It was resolved by fourth official Darren Bond taking the assistant referee position while Hussin took over the less physically demanding fourth official role.

Spurs dominated the next fifteen minutes. Odobert beat Kelly but his shot was too high. Sarr had two efforts well saved by Pope. Kelly was booked for fouling Son just outside the box. Porro had a couple of attempts one deflected over and one blocked.

Then Newcastle had the ball in the Spurs half and it went out for a throw in. It looked fairly innocuous. However a quick throw-in caught Spurs by surprise. The ball fell to Kelly on the left wing. He crossed into the box where Barnes had lots of time and space to score with a shot. It was a goal absolutely against the run of play.

Newcastle had a couple of players booked before the half ended but Spurs were a goal in arrears at the interval.

Johnson replaced Sarr for the second half. He played wide on the right with Odobert moving to the left wing. Kulusevski moved further back with Son taking a central role.

Newcastle had the first opportunity when Isak appeared to be clear but Dragusin made a superb saving tackle from behind. Had he been a few inches off he would have conceded a penalty.

Spurs dominated the next twenty minutes. A cross from the right rolled tantalisingly across the Newcastle box about six feet from the goal line but there wasn't a Spurs player to poke it home.

Johnson was making some very good runs down the right. One of his crosses fell to Odobert who shot narrowly wide. Porro had a shot which deflected off a defender onto the bar.

Spurs equalised in a somewhat odd manner. Maddison had a shot on target which Pope could only parry. It fell to Johnson just past the right post. His shot from a tight angle beat Pope but was rolling parallel to the goal-line rather than going in. However Burn came running in and in trying to clear the ball deflected it into his own net.

Spurs continued to press. Porro shot narrowly wide. Johnson created another couple of good opportunities the second of which was saved by Pope.

Gordon set up Murphy on the overlap and it took a good save from Vicario at the near post to prevent a goal. It should have been a warning that Spurs needed to be alert to Newcastle counter-attacks but it wasn't heeded.

Odobert robbed the ball from Burn but the latter atoned by blocking his shot. Dragusin had a free header on the left of the box. He should have scored but his header was wide. Johnson sent in another good cross which Guimaraes did deflect but could have put into his own net.

Spurs continued to seek a winning goal. Maddison unleashed a shot from just outside the D which brought a diving save from Pope. Johnson hit a shot high having controlled the ball well.

Maddison was intent on creating another attacking situation when disaster struck. Joelinton robbed him of the ball deep in the Newcastle half. He immediately launched a pass to Murphy on the right just inside the Spurs half. Spurs were caught out by the counter-attack and Murphy ran unimpeded into the Spurs box. He unselfishly passed to Isak on his left and in similar circumstances to the first goal Isak had all the time and space to pick his spot and score.

The second goal deflated Spurs and Newcastle were able to hold their lead without too much pressure. With about ten minutes remaining Postecoglou replaced Maddison and Bissouma with Bergvall and Bentancur. The latter was booked within two minutes of coming on but that apart the substitutions didn't have too much effect.

Spurs have four points after three games and sit in tenth place. The first game after the break is a vital one at home to Arsenal. A win is needed but whether it will happen is another matter.

Postecoglou's tenure so far can be divided into two separate phases. Phase one which lasted for ten league games and resulted in 26 points was outstanding. Phase two has been a lot more mediocre. Including the three games this season there have been 31 league games. The team has averaged 1.4 points per game which would produce 54 points for a season which would have resulted in 9th place last season or tenth the season before. Over the last twenty-two league games Spurs have only once won two consecutive games.

So what has happened? A credible case can be made that Postecoglou's tactics are too predictable. He proclaims that there is only Plan A. At this stage other Premier League teams know that when Spurs have the ball in their half, they should have nine men behind the ball because Spurs struggle to score in those circumstances. When Spurs lose the ball in their opponent's half the other team knows that it should counter-attack quickly as it is often an opportunity to score as Spurs generally don't have enough players back to defend.

It doesn't mean that Spurs will lose or draw every match but it happens often enough that they are only averaging 1.4 points per game over a lengthy 31 game sequence.

I hope Postecoglou succeeds. However unless he is prepared to be more tactically flexible it may not happen. The manner in which the three goals have been conceded so far this season, none of them contested by a Spurs player suggests that very little has been learned from last season's mistakes.

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