please log in to view this image Sunday 15th May 3pm Premier League St James' Park The final game of the league campaign is here and we have the opportunity to seal 2nd place. A win will definitely do it and a draw will too, unless Arsenal win by about 13 goals. A loss could also be enough for us, but it would require the Goons to drop points against Villa at home. There's very little chance of that happening, as Villa see out one of the worst Premier League campaigns ever. It's hard to tell how our Geordie opponents will approach this one. They're already relegated, having had their fate sealed by Sunderland's 3-0 win over Everton on Wednesday. Will this bury their confidence and any fight left or take the weight off their shoulders and free them up? We've seen teams go both ways, so we need to take this game very seriously. The game at WHL earlier in the season was one of our lowlights of the campaign, for me. It was another one that started well and should've been over, but ended in disappointment. Dier put us into the lead just before halftime and we should've been out of sight by that point. Our domination then turned into complacency and two attacking subs changed the result. Mitrovic leveled things up with around 15 minutes to go, before Perez nicked it in injury time. There's been something of a pattern to this, unfortunately. I suspect that Pochettino is well aware of it and is working on it, but it's a little worrying. Wasting chances against a team that we're well on top of and then being hit by strikers from the bench? Probably not something that you can deal with via coaching. Transfers may help. Last season's trip to St James' saw a similar approach, but with a very different result. Spurs on top again and took the lead again, before being pegged back again. Chadli's long range effort before the break was leveled by Colback's equaliser after it. The linesmen appeared to be having a day off though, as both Newcastle's goal and our next probably shouldn't have stood. Perez was put through in an offside position before he found the ginger Mackem, who scored. An Eriksen free-kick at the other end was missed by everyone, but Bentaleb tried to head it on it's way through. His effort should've seen the flag go up, but both goals stood. Kane finally killed it off at the death and got his 30th goal of the campaign in doing so. He's on 28 for the season at the moment and is leading the chase for the golden boot. Another 30+ goal season would be magnificent for the youngster. Bentaleb, Alli and Dembele are still out for this one, but no names have been added to that list. The Geordies are still missing two goalkeepers, with Krul and Elliot out for the long term. Collocini and Haidara are also out, if provisional news is accurate. Teams for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Mason; Eriksen, Son, Lamela; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Wimmer, Davies, Winks, Carroll, Chadli, N'Jie. League form: DWWDDL. Newcastle: Darlow; Anita, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett; Tiote, Colback; Townsend, Cissoko, Wijnaldum; Cisse. Subs: Woodman, Janmaat, Taylor, Shelvey, De Jong, Perez, Mitrovic. League form: LWDDWD. Referee: Anthony Taylor. What changes would you make to the side that started against Southampton, if any? Was our bench suitably balanced or would you make changes to that, too? Do we need to change our tactics during the absence of Alli and Dembele?
I would stick with the side who played (or didn't play) against Soton. People are very harsh on players coming back from injury when they expect them to perform as if they had not been away. Mason was a player we were very happy with but since his return a number now want him out. Mason will be better than his last performance I'm sure and he himself will want to improve. In a similar way Son is bursting to show his merits, his goal against Soton was shear determination. Let the team show it's true colours in the land of Hotspur.
Bit of a weird end of season weekend really, what with every significant position more or less decided barring an almighty cock up from one or both of the Manchester clubs. When was the last time all 3 were relegated before the end of the season?
We better win. Harry should be itching for the golden boot. If I see a lacklustre effort I will question the fight for the long haul of 38 games next season. We should be fighting tooth and nail to finish 2nd. Not because we finish above The Nomads, but because 2nd place is still a fantastic season and they should want to cement it.
I don't think that I'd actually alter that much, but Mason looks well of the boil and moving Lamela hurt our defence, bizarrely. I'd go with the following: Lloris Walker Alderweireld Vertonghen Rose Dier Eriksen Lamela Son Chadli Kane
I'd consider giving Trippier and/or Davies a run out. I've thought we've looked poor at full back last few games and those two didn't really do much wrong when we were rotating them in more frequently.
Being the last game of the season and despite needing a win or draw to secure second, I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of rotation. Hugo Tripps, Toby, Big Kev, Davies Dier, Eriksen Lamela, Chadli, Son Kane Vorm, Walker, Rose, Jan, Mason, Clint, Harrison Give Big Kev a run out as quite frankly he deserves it, he was superb when he stepped in for Jan and so I think it'd be good to let him finish off the season in the starting XI. Rose and Walker looked ****ed against Southampton and so I'd drop them for the final one to give Tripps and Davies a go. Mason just hasn't looked up to it since he's returned from injury, you could've understood initial rustiness but he's had enough minutes to have gotten back into gear but unfortunately hasn't. I hoped for the Soton game that Eriksen would drop deeper to allow Chadli into the side and I again hope that'll happen on Sunday. Give Kane about 60 minutes and if he's having another performance like the Soton game, give Shay a run out.
It should be a good game Newcastle will want to bow out with a bang rather than a whimper, but Spurs' extra quality should prevail. I've gone 3-2 Spurs in the prediction leagues. The last day always seems to produce goals. Let's hope Swansea are pushing for a top half finish
No, no no to bloody rotation !! Do we want second place or don't we ?? For the last 9 months, it has been crystal clear that Walker and Rose are by far and away our best FB's. Forget bringing in Trippier and Davies. No need, not necessary and would weaken us significantly.
To be fair to SOS he wasn't suggesting rotation for the sake of it, more because Rose and Walker looked knackered. Davies and Trippier have played well, I wouldn't mind seeing them again.
Wouldn't weaken us significantly, both Davies and Trippier have performed very well this season. Rose and Walker have been better but both looked shattered against Southampton. Townsend's likely to want to prove a point against us on Sunday and I'd much rather a fresher Davies/ Trippier face him than a tired looking Rose/ Walker.
All the players looked knackered on Sunday. Probably down to the mental and physical exertions of the Chelsea game, combined by the very high temperature in the stadium on Sunday. As per usual, it's the full backs who always get singled out on here. Trippier has been weak defensively all year, and Davies offers less than Rose going forward. I repeat, meddling with the full backs is unwise and unnecessary and will weaken us enough to give me concerns. .
Mason and Kane were also singled out for being poor against Southampton, completely agree that the whole team look knackered and the weather no doubt partly caused that but our fullbacks are the two players in this squad in which fitness needs to be at it's highest more so than anyone, the constant runs back and forth are key to how we play. Both Rose and Walker in the second half weren't chasing back half as well as they have been all season and they didn't seem to have that drive when going forward either, that could solely be blamed on the weather/ Chelsea game or it could be due to fatigue after a long season in which both guys have busted their balls for our club but the other two haven't disappointed either. Trippier is weaker defensively but his ability with the ball in the final third is superior to Walker, similar as to how Davies is the better defensive player but Rose is an absolute beast and a menace when going forward. Both sets of full backs have their qualities over one another, for me they're the strongest areas in our squad and even though it's clear that Rose and Walker are the overall superiors, I'm happy to see Davies and Trippier given a run, it worked well this season when we were rotating due to that stacked fixtures period and so now I don't see the point in risking what could possibly be a fatigued Rose and Walker when the other two are likely to be fresh.
I would suggest that Toby looked the more fatigued of the backline on Sunday and also has looked a tad off the pace recently. I do agree the FB's are vital to the system we play and it is my view Walker and Rose have bought into the tactics quicker and more effectively than any of their colleagues.
