Tottenham struggle on but selection crisis makes Ange Postecoglou judgement pointless
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Tottenham’s difficult form continued with a 2-1 home defeat by Newcastle, sealed by first-half goals from Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak. In front of new England boss Thomas Tuchel, who was watching from the directors’ box, Dominic Solanke gave Spurs a fourth-minute lead with a flying header but Gordon quickly equalised in controversial circumstances.
Isak turned home before half-time to ultimately put the Magpies on course for a sixth straight win but Spurs rallied impressively in the second half, despite Ange Postecoglou’s remarkable selection problems. Here are three Spurs talking points from the game:.
There are questions about Postecoglou’s level of culpability in Spurs’ injury crisis but, putting them aside, how could you judge the head coach on this result?. While Postecoglou’s front five was not short of experience and quality, there were unknowns throughout Spurs’ back six – from Lucas Bergvall, 18, at the base of midfield to third-choice goalkeeper Brandon Austin, who made his first appearance for the club after No2 Fraser Forster was among the players struck down by a sickness bug in the week.
Archie Gray, also 18, and Djed Spence played out of position again, with Pedro Porro and Radu Dragusin completing a patched-up defence. It was no surprise that Newcastle made hay after Solanke’s early goal, with Gordon levelling the game with a fine finish and Isak settling it late in the first half, having already gone close.
