Rafa: They were too big and strong

NEWCASTLE boss Rafa Benitez blamed his side’s inability to deal with Tottenham Hotspur’s ‘big lads’ for their 2-1 defeat.

The home side were twice undone by deliveries into the penalty area, from which Jan Vertonghen and Dele Alli scored headed goals.

Newcastle’s organisation at the back was a key theme of their 10th-placed finish last season but they were vulnerable to crosses throughout here and could have conceded more goals against Mauricio Pochettino’s team.

‘In this case, it is quite simple — they have too many big lads, strong lads who are good in the air, and the delivery was really good,’ said Benitez by way of explanation.

‘You have Christian Eriksen delivering the ball and then you have Davinson Sanchez or Dele Alli or Harry Kane or Eric Dier — they have so many strong, big lads.

‘When you have money and you buy players, you buy quality, and quality is not just technical ability. It is also the physicality, the strength, and they have all these things.

‘You make mistakes when you play against good players.’

Benitez had urged supporters to get behind the team after a fractious summer in which the club made a £21million profit on transfers.

And so fans protested against owner Mike Ashley before the game when several hundred gathered outside of his Sports Direct store in the city.

‘I said that after the window was closed, we cannot change anything,’ said Benitez, who was frustrated by Ashley’s lack of investment and ambition.

‘My job is to be sure that the players give everything, and the fans have to be behind the team like they were last year and they were today. The message we have tried to give is very clear — focus on the pitch, focus on football.

‘That is the main thing for me. I cannot control what is going on outside, but I will try to be sure that the players are confident that they can do a job.’

FOOTBALL’S a game of fine margins and they don’t come much finer than the goal that put Tottenham in front. To the naked eye it looked as though goalkeeper Martin Dubravka’s had kept out Jan Vertonghen’s shot. Goal-line technology, however, decided differently, declaring the ball was over the line by all of nine millimetres.