Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United

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Sunday 25th August 4.30pm
Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium​

A respectable draw at the Etihad resulted in a lot of discussion of VAR and not much praise.
The performance itself wasn't great though, so perhaps it wasn't warranted?
Newcastle followed their narrow loss to Arsenal by getting beaten quite badly at Carrow Road.
The loss to Norwich will be seen as far more concerning by their fans and they'll want a reaction here.
Can we build on our first two results or will Steve Bruce spring an unwelcome surprise on us?

The last campaign saw the Geordies start disastrously, failing to win any of their first 10 games.
Three points and three draws were all they could manage and the unrest it caused was predictable.
Mike Ashley bore the brunt of the criticism, as his lack of spending was seen to be undermining the manager.
Rafael Benitez slowly turned it around though and a midtable finish saw some cause for optimism.
Any such thoughts were short lived, however, as the coach left in the summer.

Steve Bruce's appointment as Benitez' replacement was met with some hostility.
Despite being a local lad and a Newcastle supporter, he came with a fair bit of baggage.
He has a mixed record at Premier League level and had an unsuccessful spell at their main rivals.
His time at Sunderland resulted in an early season sacking, for which he blamed his allegiance to the Geordies.
The £40m signing of Joelinton in the summer may suggest that Ashley is backing him, though.

Last season's match at Wembley saw a gritty and determined performance by the visitors.
A packed winter schedule seemed to be taking it's toll on our players and there were a number of absences.
Kane and Alli were missing, while Vertonghen was used as a makeshift left-back.
We dominated possession and territory, but rarely tested the goalkeeper, despite having a fair number of shots.
Son persisted though and his late shot was fumbled over the line by Dubravka for the only goal:

The game at St James' was the second consecutive season opener for us at the ground.
Jan Vertonghen's early opener saw a quick test for goalline technology, as it sneaked over the line by 9mm.
An almost immediate response from Newcastle saw Joselu head home unmarked to equalise.
Alli headed us back into the lead minutes later, but that was the end of the goalscoring.
Both sides spurned chances to add to the scoreline and the points headed back to North London:

Son and Foyth have served the last game of their suspensions, but the defender is still injured, unfortunately.
He's joined by Sessegnon and Alli, but Davies is back in training and may be available.
Yedlin, Carroll, Atsu, Lejeune and Coback are out for the visitors.
Joelinton, Saint-Maximin and Gayle will be assessed.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Rose; Winks, Ndombele; Sissoko, Lamela, Eriksen; Kane.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Vertonghen, Davies, Dier, Skipp, Lo Celso, Moura.

Newcastle: Dubravka; Schar, Lascelles, Dummett; Krafth, Hayden, Shelvey, Ki, Ritchie; Almiron, Joelinton.
Subs: Darlow, Manquillo, Clark, Fernandez, Willems, Longstaff, Muto.

Referee: Mike "****ing" Dean.

TV: Sky Sports.

How would you like us to line up for this one and what would you change from the City game?
Should any of our new signings start and would you put Moura or Son back in the starting XI?
Which system and tactics would you choose and what are you expecting Newcastle to go with?

 

Paul Stewa(yaye)rt.

 

The Toon have had a shaky start to the season.
However, they made the Goons toil for a 1-0 win, and they usually turn up against Spurs.

Pochettino to 'ditch the diamond' (TM) , and not have a starting XI with
Winks + NDombele + GOAT.

Son will be back and raring to go, so I would start with Moura first,
then let Son have a good 30+ mins to run at them in the 2nd half.

 

Hugo
KWP, Dave, Jan, Davies
Sissoko, Tanguy
Lucas, Eriksen, Son
Kane

Hopefully Gio can get more than 8 minutes this game but I wouldn't start him just yet.

 

Swap Eriksen for Lamela. Also why no Toby?

 

Don't think he's been as good as he once was, still a good defender by all means but just not at that same level we were used to seeing. Dave also outshone him in the second half vs City and I think we need to persist with Dave as 'first choice' this season.

 

Apparently Tanguy picked up a minor thigh injury in training and will be unavailable on Sunday. Welcome to Atheltic Club Injuries, Tanguy

Hugo
KWP Dave Jan Rose
Goat Winks
Lucas Lamela Son
Kane

 

Injury FC is back in motion. I'd now go for.

Hugo
KWP, Dave, Jan, Davies
Sissoko, Eriksen
Lucas, Lamela, Son
Kane

 

ah sorry about that but i added him to my shambles of a FF team yesterday so it was pretty inevitable.

 

Because it's not as if playing against twelve men was enough of an arseache...

 

I'd go with Lloris; Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Winks, Sissoko; Moura, Eriksen, Lamela; Kane.
Ease Son back in from the bench, which also gives us an attacking option to change things.
We've got nothing else in reserve, apart from Lo Celso who isn't up to speed.

 

Pochettino allegedly went into rant mode today in the pre-match gig.
Vid pending, but allegedly the Eriksen and Jan sagas are getting to him.

 

Awful promo. Terrible music.

 

Pre-match stuff ...

 

He seems rather tired and defensive. Strangely isolated and he lost his train of thought a number of times.
We need to mic up the journalists and host this content ourselves. They need to be managed better, too. That was rambling and repetitive.

 

I’d love to see Perez take a press-conference. Think he’d arguably be funnier and more brutal than Poch. Media would **** themselves while we the fans grab the popcorn.

 

Angrily jabbing a finger at some hack, while shouting aggressively in Spanish.

 

No hack respite yet, as the NLD is before the Euroland transfer window closes.
They will sniping all season long on Eriksen and Toby, unless
either sign new contracts.

 

He’s got that death stare about him as well, a journo will know the moment they’ve ****ed up when he’s just looking at them thinking “you’re dead”