Having taken a North London derby victory over Arsenal to boost everyone’s spirits, Tottenham Hotspur were back in action this evening as we made the long trip up north to face Steve Bruce’s Newcastle United side.
Newcastle have had a mixed season again, but with back to back losses in recent matches, we could understandably expect some kind of a reaction.
And we got one, Newcastle started the far brighter, had more possession and created far more chances than we did, but just ahead of the half hour mark, Son Heung-Min gave us the advantage and we went into the break one goal to the good.
We were a bit more with it in the second half, but Newcastle still dominated chances and in the 56th minute they made it count as they hit the equaliser. It was a bright response though and Harry Kane had us 2-1 in front four minutes later as we reestablished our lead.
Although the hosts continued to dominate, Kane completed his brace in the 90th minute to tie the game and the points up for us.
3-1 – it might not have been pretty, but it’s another win. Up to seventh and Harry passes 200!
Unused Newcastle Subs:
Muto, Manquillo, Darlow, Atsu, Allan, Young.
Unused Spurs Subs:
Sessegnon, Gazzaniga, Skipp, Gedson Fernandes, Tanganga, White.
Previous Article:
Spurs Late Show Seals A Lively London Derby – Match Stats
St James' Park
Premier League
15/07/2020 7:00 pm
Attendance: 0
Referee: David Coote
| Newcastle United | Tottenham Hotspur | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ritchie (56) | Son Heung-Min (27), Kane (60, 90) | ||||||
| Dubravka | Lloris | ||||||
| Krafth | Aurier | ||||||
| Schar | Sanchez | ||||||
| Fernandez | Alderweireld | ||||||
| Yedlin | 55 | Davies | |||||
| Saint-Maximin | Sissoko | ||||||
| Shelvey | Lo Celso | 62 | |||||
| Bentaleb | 86 | Winks | |||||
| Ritchie | Lucas Moura | 57 | |||||
| Almiron | Kane | 91 | |||||
| Gayle | 69 | Son Heung-Min | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Lazaro | 55 | Bergwijn | 57 | ||||
| Joelinton | 69 | Lamela | 62 | ||||
| Longstaff | 86 | Vertonghen | 91 | ||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 22 | Goal attempts | 8 |
| 6 | On Target | 5 |
| 5 | Corners | 4 |
| 6 | Fouls | 13 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 53 | % | 47 |
Stan Rosenthal – So you think Højbjerg is the same class as Van Dyke ? I don’t and if he isn’t then he’s clearly never going to do for us what Virgil has done for Liverpool.
El Jefe – Like a lot of fans you don’t seem to understand that getting rid of someone is the easy bit, replacing him with someone better is the hard bit. If you just churn players, selling cheap, buying dear and getting no improvement then you might as well just burn the cash. When someone comes up with a name that is both attainable and a clear improvement then you can talk about getting rid of a player, until then you achieve nothing. As for Ake, let’s just wait and see who’se interested and how much they are prepared to pay. So far its just “I read it on the internet so it must be true”.
Jod – Aurier has been a liability most of the time – case in point recently for example he cost us the goal’s in both the last games with a woeful touch and a woeful clearance – improving on him is not difficult to be perfectly honest. That said we’d still probably be able to get £15m minimum for him maybe even pushing £20m if we were lucky and I say we should grab it with both hands quite frankly! Castagne is proven in Serie A which is a top league where defending is considered an art form and as he wants to come and is in his last year of contract – could apparently be got for around £15-20m also – we wouldn’t be losing anything really as you suggest – indeed we’d get a younger and better player for probably less wages on top! I think it’s a win, win in this case but I can see where you are coming from as regards fans just wanting buying for the sake of buying every window, etc without giving it much or even any thought!
As regards Ake – his Chelski return clause is apparently £40m – cheap given his talent and what the interest may well be. I’d be happy to bet he goes for at least this amount – an amount we most probably cannot afford to spend on just 1 player this summer – no matter how good! Indeed we’ve only paid over £40m for 3 players so far – Davy, Lo Celso and N’Dombele so for us £40m minimum is a very big outlay and would be a major signing – unlike the likes of the other 3 who I mentioned earlier who just throw it about like they do!
As for Hojbjerg – if these new low prices of £15-20-25m are true – should turn out to be a bloody bargain – get him in end of! CA like JM who knows a thing or 2 about winning and thus good players – seems to rate him also and wants to get him in at Everton – that’s already a compliment in itself for me but then what do I know and it’s just my opinion lol!
I might add that our 3 record signings are still to prove worth it either – eyebrows were raised as regards Davy’s fee at the time (especially as it was us paying it and we were breaking our record on a pretty in-experienced young CB – indeed 1 season at Ajax only who had paid just 5m Euros for him a year earlier) and he has hardly gone on to prove the doubters wrong so far, N’Dombele who has been very poor at best for now (again only 2 season’s at Lyon who had paid in total 10.25m Euros yet sold to us for some 72m Euros in total) and lastly Lo Celso who is very much still finding his feet (very low direct goal contribution compared to his season at Betis for example which put him on the map really – again here though only 1 season of experience and they bought him for less than 20m Euros but then sold him to us almost immediately for some 50m Euros)!
Even our top signings before that like Lamela, Soldado, Aurier (whose actually 11th on our all time highest transfer list), Bent, Bentley, Janssen, Rebrov, Paulinho even Pavlyuchenko, etc have all pretty much been duds unfortunately!
The only good expensive signings have been: Sissoko (eventually lol but at the time was probably a bit expensive to be honest but I guess he had decent Prem experience and was a regular French international), Sonny, Modric and Dembele and possibly Moura (giving him a lot of credit for his 15 goals last season) and the jury is out on the likes of Bergwijn and Sessegnon as still relatively fresh overall!
The starting base was £15m+ and we’ve only done around 20 deals at and above this figure which says quite a bit frankly!
When we spend big money by our standards we invariably tend to get it wrong as can be seen with the above – so as regards Jod wanting proven players, etc – have we ever truly been in the market for such especially as regards within the Prem?! Even our bigger money signings tend to be punts so let’s not get ahead of ourselves – our history clearly shows that we never buy the finished article or anywhere near such so I think it’s perfectly reasonable to be asking for players like Castagne and Hojbjerg especially given their supposed fees at the moment (both only 1 year left on their current contracts and looking to move and both want to come to us and in Hojbjerg’s case he is actually Prem proven and a regular captain at that) so I’ll stand by comments earlier on no problem!
Ake is a pipe dream unfortunately when taking everything into consideration and analysing properly – he’s just another Bruno Fernandes as JM put it – out of our league unfortunately as much as it might pain to say it! £40m minimum and with top suitors we’ve got no chance as HT recently concluded on another thread but I guess it’s great to keep dreaming!
Glad to see for example that ND has sided with me on this argument!
Just tried posting another message and it hasn’t uploaded immediately unfortunately – guess there’s still a glitch in the bloody system – oh well it was getting good while it lasted lol!
The comments are pretty much the same every week on Aurier and this was after a win in the NLD – tried to post the thread from the other day but it’s on here on VitalSpurs anyway if anyone wants to find it – might even appear on here later as I’ve tried to post it directly lol!
2 year’s left on his contract – surely after his constant display of mistakes/errors, etc this season (not to mention previous season’s) we surely cannot reward him with a new contract and actually keep him – we need to get rid off him ASAP end of! We did the same to Trippier last summer after a poor season again with him committing several high profile mistakes/errors and it’s time to wield the axe again in terms of Aurier – there was some regret as regards Trippier going but there will be none as regards Aurier leaving that’s for sure!
It should really be as easy as the decision to sell Rose finally this summer aswell – let’s just get it done, get as much money back as possible and move on and look to the future and what it holds/heralds!
These last 2 posted straight up – maybe it’s an issue with the page linked – oh well – like I said it might even appear later or can easily be found on Vital if people want to look for it – but the jist of it is that Aurier unfortunately is a donkey, etc and completely criticised by all on there via Twitter bar none!
Will leave it there as I think my opinion on him is now pretty obvious but up until recently I tried to back him and give him 1 final benefit of the doubt by saying he could be a decent back-up but given his continued poor displays in the last couple of games for example and just bringing back all the negative memories from the past have decided had enough of him and want him gone – end of!
El Jefe – Here’s where we disagree – you clearly think one league is pretty much the same as another. I don’t, there are plenty of players who’ve thrived in one country only to fall flat on their faces in another. So “Castagne is proven in Serie A” doesn’t fill me with confidence. If we could get him on a season’s loan with an option to buy so we could see whether he could cut it in the premier league then fair enough. Of course you would only sell Aurier after Castagne had proved he could actually do the job. In any case from what I’ve sen we may already have a candidate for the RB spot in Tanganga who, to me, plays RB as well as he plays centre half.
You don’t appear to think Alderweireld and Vertonghen were good signings, I must disagree. The kind of players a club signs is dictated by the manager. Pochettino liked young players he could develop, Mourinho has always liked more experience. I think that will be reflected in who we go after this summer.
Buy back clauses are strange things. First of all just because Chelsea could try and implement it doesn’t mean they will. Secondly no matter what’s written into an agreement between the clubs its worthless if the player wants to go somewhere else. Its all just speculation until someone actually makes an offer.
Jod – I wish we had done that kind of deal you suggest for Castagne many a time before – just to name 2 very quickly that spring to mind of the current crop – Aurier and N’Dombele for starters but I might even say the same of Sanchez, Lamela, etc! In an ideal world it might work, in the real world – few and far between at best – it’s not how things are done or how it works generally!
Castagne is in his last year of contract and wants to come to us – if we’re interested we’ll have to buy him outright but I doubt he’ll be that expensive given his contract situation for example.
England, Spain and Italy are arguably the 3 best league’s in the world so it’s a decent sign if you are proven in any 1 of them! Also if you are a foreign player like Castagne for example who is Belgian and has proved that he can adapt to a different culture, way of football, etc in Italy so taking to the Prem is likely to be OK for him aswell!
I don’t think we’ve seen anywhere near enough of Tanganga at all be it at CB or RB. I’ve pencilled him in as a potential RB but will depend on how he develops because I’ve not for example seen what his crossing ability is like – which is very important for a top full-back! Defensively he should be sound as he’s a defender by trade but still has pretty much everything to prove for now especially at Prem level! At best he can cover position(s) but I doubt we can fully rely on him just yet as a Prem regular – needs to be eased in ideally for me.
Aurier has to go – 2 year’s left on his contract – now is the time to sell and get back as much as possible for him! Next year he’ll be like Castagne and Hojbjerg are now and be worth even less! Also personally fed up of watching his constant mistakes/errors and them costing us dearly plenty of times in the past!
I rate Toby and Vert’s very highly indeed and made constant reference to this over the year’s on here or at least I did in their pomp but they both only cost around £10-11m each – the margin was £15m+ as regards our most expensive signings! I might add both joined us at an age of around 25 and Vert’s had no Prem experience and Toby only limited Prem experience after a season at Southampton yet we took a calculated risk on both of them and it paid off.
I agree that JM tends to prefer experience but Castagne and Hojbjerg who are both 24 are at that nice blend of age whereby they have certain experience already (both are full international’s for example) but are still relatively young with their best year’s likely ahead of them and still capable of learning plenty aswell IMHO! Also they are both in their last year of contract – something JM specifically referred to last night as regards signings this summer and what will be viable based on reasonableness!
I’d bet quite a bit that Ake goes for a minimum of £40m and to a top club at that this summer but let’s wait and see and then we’ll know for sure!
We are way past easing Tanganga in. He played three different positions (CB, RB, LB) in his first four games. He was thrown in at the deep end and left to sink or swim. He swam and now you want to make the same mistake City did when they didn’t play Sancho and he left for Dortmund, with Tanganga its now play him or lose him. Either we develop a potentially excellent all round defender or someone else will be happy too.
Sometimes when something is cheap its because that’s all its worth, not because its under priced. If these guys contracts are running out you have to ask why.
I think the Germans might disagree about which are the best three leagues in the world. For me the premier league is currently the only truly competitive league in the world, that might not last now City have won their appeal.
Jod – as regards Tanganga I want to see what he can do at RB and he for me as I stated above would be 1 of 2 option’s there along with possibly Castagne if we do indeed buy him. In that case he would get plenty of games next season for sure – a quality squad has at least 2 good players per position! I agree he could turn into an excellent all round defender and we do have to start playing him otherwise we’ll probably lose him – just reading his contract renewal has currently stalled – due to us offering only £15K a week up from a miserly £1K a week lol! Still need to be convinced on his attacking ability – especially crossing as any top full-back requires so let’s wait and see but yes I want to see him sign up and watch more of him for sure!
It has clearly been stated that both Castagne and Hojbjerg do not want to renew even though there club’s want them to and furthermore that both want to come to us – I would like to have both of them. In doing so Aurier out for sure but I would not let Wink’s go even though it’s being reported that if we do get Hojbjerg that Wink’s career with us will be under threat – hope it’s just the usual tabloid/media nonsense!
The German league would probably come in a close 4th for me but I think generally in most people’s eyes the top 3 are England, Spain and Italy in that specific order! I would argue Spain is still relatively competitive – Madrid, Barca and even Atletico all going for the title regularly – Atletico won it in 2013/2014 and Madrid have won it twice since then with Barca taking the rest so it is still pretty competitive all the same! So to prove yourself in anyone of those 3 is an indicator of a good footballer overall. Hence I say bring on Castagne and Hojbjerg and let’s see what other bonuses we might get this summer – hopefully a LCB and a 2nd STR also – all we can do is wait it out and see but here’s hoping anyway – oh yes and AURIER OUT LOL!
El Jefe – read the same report you did re Tanganga’s contract negotiations, I suspect its simply his agent putting the pressure on (which to be fair is his job).
Doesn’t really get us any further re the contracts running down. The question is why they don’t want to renew. If its simply they think they are worth more than the club does then there’s a problem if the club is right. Another potential problem is if it is all about money we may end up signing mercenaries who have a poor attitude. We may have already done that with Ndombele, a player with talent who seems uninterested in actually showing it. Fans seem to ignore team spirit most of the time but we saw how important it is last night when Arsenal beat City, Sheffield have been showing it all season.
To me the Spanish league is a bigger version of the Scottish league. For Rangers and Celtic read Real and Barca. The Atletico success is fading into history and there’s no sign of anyone repeating it. I suppose that’s still better than the other European leagues where you know whose going to win before the season starts.
The problem I have with all this transfer talk is how few players seem to be a genuine upgrades on what we already have. My first question is always would Liverpool or City sign them ? The answer is inevitably no. So how are these signings supposed to close the gap ? Its down to developing your own players, having a better work ethic and coming up with superior tactics. Still at least we are talking about real players not men with no names.
Jod – let’s just hope Tanganga eventually renews with us (like Parrott and Skipp have recently done) and that will be the end of it and he can then knuckle down and work hard and fully prove his talent!
Hojbjerg has specifically said he wants to movcee to a bigger club and win things and Castagne has basically implied similar by saying that when a club like Spur’s or PSG come in for you then you go! I don’t think it’s about money at all – they must know full well how tight Levy is and that we are not big payers in any terms (fees/wages, etc) yet they both still want to come! For around £15-20m each I’d be more than happy to take the risk!
At least in Spain there’s the 2 big boys with Atletico still having a small sniff! In Italy it’s always Juventus, in Germany it’s always Bayern Munich and in France it’s always PSG end of LOL! I guess here it’s now Man City and Liverpool with maybe Man Utd having a sniff next season depending on their summer transfers but granted we’ve had around 5 different winners in the last decade roughly – definitely the most competitive and best league by far and also most entertaining!
As regards upgrades/improvements, etc – I’ll stick to my guns and say that Aurier will not be a problem to upgrade/improve upon at RB LOL! As regards other targets I mentioned I thought were needed – we don’t currently have a DMC so we need one basically and the only comparison here were Wanyama who is now gone and Dier who has converted to defence – neither made the position his own though so Hojbjerg who I think we’ll be after should come in and be 1st team straight away and will not have that bigger expectations on his shoulders based on being an upgrade/improvement on previous takers – Winks is even being linked away because of him now but I’d prefer to keep Winksy and worst case he can cover Hojbjerg especially as Skipp is likely to go on loan! Up front – whoever comes in will be HK10’s reserve so we cannot expect too much when that’s the case and to be fair apart from HK10 it’s been year’s since we had a good striker or set of strikers at the club! Finally at LCB – if Vert’s goes there’ll be no left footed specialist at CB so again even though normally to replace Vert’s would require serious quality, seeing as there is no real competition in the regard mentioned again the weight of expectation should not be that large especially when it looks as if Toby and Davy and even Dier will be the main go to’s at CB anyway barring some major signing being made!
I would argue that Man City especially are in a world of their own but I did read a report that Pep was linked with Hojbjerg who he had under him at Bayern Munich but I doubt it when they still have Fernandinho, Rodri and Gundogan in there! Liverpool again when they are making signings like Alisson and VVD for the amount’s they did are again in a different league to almost all and definitely including us! I agree though you have to work with what you have and can realistically get (hence my argument for the likes of Castagne and Hojbjerg who are reasonably gettable for us on all fronts) and then it comes down to having a greater work ethic and adjusting tactics to be superior as you clearly state, etc!
Regarding last night – I watched the full game and Man City were poor – especially the likes of De Bruyne and Sterling who usually run games for them and scare the shite out of any team! Also you have to hand it to Aubameyang – a world class striker for sure with 2 top class strikes – with a player like him in your side who on top is extremely fast aswell as very talented you always have a chance on the counter not to mention the other 2 – Lacazette and Pepe!
But yes as you say team spirit based on a never say die attitude and a willingness to fight for each other until the end and never give up is a great thing to have and can be very beneficial indeed! Hoping JM can instill such for us – the player’s are already praising him and singing from the same hymn sheet so for now it bodes quite well quite frankly!