Tottenham 1-2 Newcastle (Solanke 4’|Gordon 6’, Isak 38’)
TOTTENAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — Ange Postecoglou has become that rarest of breeds in Tottenham managers – the fall guy refusing to fall. With defeat to Newcastle, expect the relentless noise around his future to ramp up a notch but try to cut out the bluster.
The illness that ripped through the training ground this week – no lasagnas in sight – might have been a turning point, but not for the reasons you would expect. It is the essence of Postecoglou at his barnstorming best, all-guns-blazing, youngsters on the bench, backs against the wall and the world.
There is just one flaw to all this – Tottenham Hotspur lost another Premier League football match, their 10th of the season, against the same outfit who inflicted the first. They have not claimed three points at home since the Aston Villa match on 3 November.
Bug-ridden, belligerent they may have been – they went down fighting. In that light, this was an admirable display of defiance and resilience which quite possibly deserved a point. But down they went, yet again.
Postecoglou insisted afterwards that he was “hugely proud” given the circumstances. “I’m just shattered the boys didn’t get results we deserved… if that was a different day and it was an even and fair playing ground we would have won that game.”
For his part he has repeatedly said he is “sick of excuses”. That risks him being judged without context.
The first six minutes were both the best and worst of Spurs and the absolute nadir of the handball rule. Lucas Bergvall was at the centre of it all – an unchallenged surge into the final third leading to Pedro Porro’s cross, headed in by Dominic Solanke ahead of the returning Sven Botman.
Not 120 seconds had passed at the other end when Bergvall’s cross would have found a teammate, had it not been intercepted by Joelinton’s arm. In a “natural position” – per the VAR’s statement – or not. The advantage is unmistakeable – and ludicrously unfair.
All that remained was for Bruno Guimaraes to tee up Anthony Gordon, a forward with the ice coolness an onlooking Thomas Tuchel will have been accustomed to in his winter break in Bavaria. Work started this week for the England manager and he must have been delighted by both early goals, Gordon’s strike his 17th in 23 games against the Big Six since his arrival two years ago.
Dan Burn was equally fortunate not to receive a second yellow for a handball that was nevertheless given by referee Andrew Madley. Newcastle’s second, at least, was incontestable. Inevitable even, Jacob Murphy having repeatedly exploited the space created by Djed Spence (at left-back) being dragged into the middle.
Murphy’s cross took a touch off Radu Dragusin on its way to Alexander Isak for the tap-in. Eddie Howe might venture it could have been more had Anthony Gordon been given a penalty for a collision with Dejan Kulusevski.
Now, to the mitigation. Whenever it appears as though this Spurs squad cannot possibly get any more vulnerable, it does. Two of the back four were out of position. Brandon Austin, who turns 26 on Wednesday, was in goal for his debut and just his 24th professional game; he deserves huge credit for his performance.
Dragusin, one of the players who Postecoglou said had “got off his sick bed” to play, was replaced by Sergio Reguilon at half-time, forcing Spence to centre-back. The Romanian was the last man standing after injuries to Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies. Postecoglou finished the afternoon with no available centre-backs whatsoever.
How is it possible to judge any coach in those circumstances? In the boardroom, is one answer. With the punctuality of Michael Buble thawing out for Christmas, we are fast approaching Ryan Mason season.
The notable difference is that Postecoglou retains enough goodwill for his relationship with Daniel Levy not to have broken down. Antonio Conte, Jose Mourinho and Harry Redknapp all left after a point of no return in that respect.
Mauricio Pochettino departed with Spurs 14th in the table, in November, a position not dissimilar to where they are likely to be after the weekend’s other results. The Australian is the only Spurs manager to last a full campaign since Pochettino in 2018-19. The pattern is familiar – and painful.
Levy’s conundrum, whether to stick or twist, does not usually come so early in the year, nor with such an unprecedented list of absentees – including two world-class centre-backs, a left-back, two forwards and their best midfielder.
Then again, Should Liverpool rock up and put another half a dozen goals past his team, this season could effectively be over by 10pm on Wednesday night, or at least its last serious hopes extinguished. Spurs remain in the Europa League and FA Cup – both long, arduous journeys which this fragile squad will struggle to sustain.
What complicates his decision further is that results were so mixed in the second half of last season, which discounts the idea that this is a crisis borne of injuries and other various misfortunes alone. It has become increasingly difficult to assess where the genuine caveats end and the reality checks have to begin.
And yet the highs are so mountainous, when Postecoglou’s methods really take hold, that it would take a seriously shrewd, well-timed and successful appointment to make sacking him now the right decision. Levy does not have a track record of those. It is time for the unthinkable – patience, at least until the end of the season.