Pochettino’s pain
Manager questions Spurs attitude as Newcastle win
Beaten by the manager Newcastle United’s support say they never wanted, forced again to turn to the playmaker who would rather leave and with four points from three games, this has been a forgettable August for Mauricio Pochettino.
As his Tottenham team chased the game, the manager once more summoned Christian Eriksen from the bench but this time his Danish playmaker with an expiring contract was unable to save the day.
The European transfer window closes a week today with Eriksen’s future still unclear. The only certainty is that he can leave for nothing next summer – an outcome to which chairman Daniel Levy will be devoutly opposed.
Pochettino refused to blame the result on the uncertainty around Eriksen or, for that matter, the futures of Jan Vertonghen, an unused substitute, and Toby Alderweireld – both of whom also have a single year left to run on their respective deals. “We can’t justify our performance – we should play better,” he said. “[We needed] more desire, more aggression with the ball. Eighty per cent of possession is too much in the Premier League for so few shots on target [three].”
Pochettino had no clear answers as to whether Eriksen had played his last game for the club but he did say once again that the build-up to the season has been far from ideal, the most unsettled in his six years at the club. “Some situations we cannot fix, that is the circumstances. After playing the Champions League final on June 1 we knew that a situation like this could happen,” he said. “It’s difficult to handle. What can we do?
“The problem [with the contracts] is during the week that maybe can affect [the players]. Today we should have won because we were much better. These type of situations happen in the Premier League. That is why you need to create a very good dynamic and a strong teambonding and at the moment that situation in our group is still far, far away in that respect.”
There was another dubious video assistant referee decision that this time came down on the side of Newcastle, when Harry Kane was denied a penalty – first by Mike Dean, then on review – even though it appeared Jamaal Lascelles had fallen on top of him. Pochettino had declared his love for VAR last week when it had been the saving of Spurs at Manchester City and this time he wisely decided that this argument was not worth having.
There was much to compare between the two matches, with Spurs having all the game as City did against them. This was a result that might only have unfolded in such a manner once in 10 attempts but Steve Bruce needed it more than any manager. Not only that but the manner of the victory with a well-organised Newcastle team defending with five at the back and going hard on the counter-attack.
Jose Mourinho was in one of the stadium’s executive boxes to see the first goal for Newcastle’s record signing Joelinton, who had a fine allround game notwithstanding a couple of attempts to stop play with some long lie-downs on the turf while the action went on around him. He took the fight to Spurs’ defence on his own and was assisted for his goal by the excellent Christian Atsu, an early substitute for the injured Allan Saint-maximin.
By the end it was the proverbial shoot-out and Lascelles was off the pitch with a calf injury. Bruce evidently appreciates Paul Dummett, his fellow Geordie and centre-half who had one of the games of his life. So too Fabian Schar, and when required Federico Fernandez came on for a stint as Newcastle hung on.
The game’s only goal came from a phenomenal sequence of passing, a move that began with Matt Ritchie in the left-back position and worked its way to the right and then back again when Atsu finally made the decisive move. His ball to Joelinton evaded three defenders and found the run of Newcastle’s £40million signing through the middle. His first touch was excellent, taking him into space and giving him the window of opportunity to sweep the ball past Hugo Lloris inside the goalkeeper’s near post.
They might have scored earlier but Sean Longstaff ’s shot was pushed over the bar by a brush of the Frenchman’s fingertips.
By the end the pressure was immense, and Spurs’ Lucas Moura somehow missed at the back post with nine regulation minutes of the game remaining. Is this the last they see of Eriksen at Tottenham? If so, it was a quiet end to it all.