Newcastle made 20 shots on the Spurs goal yesterday, which tells you much of where Spurs let themselves down again as they dropped more points in a season packed with too many bad results.
In very simple terms, a very poor Sergio Reguilon tried to be an attacking outlet, and this frequently left the other three defenders exposed – and one of those was Davinson Sanchez.
A recipe for disaster with which Mourinho has endlessly sought to make work, but in the final analysis, the players at his disposal simply aren’t up to it.
The Toon’s xG ratio was 3.86 and Spurs’ 2.18 which reflects the space that an otherwise unappetizing mob were suddenly firing the ball in like a brigade of World Cup winners.
Across the day we shall go through the Tottenham boys that were involved in this latest fiasco, in search of answers. At this stage, it feels as if our Portuguese Napoleon has met his Waterloo.
Sanchez had a stinker even without Reg’s contribution. Two poor clearances under no pressure gifted Newcastle chances before his part in the opener. He didn’t track Gayle’s run when Hugo made the great double save. It is a heart in mouth moment every time the ball is played to him. The disappointing thing for me is that this is his 4th season in a Spurs shirt but his game has not developed at all. He can’t hide behind inexperience any longer. The problem is who else can Jose turn to. Is Toby injured at the moment?
One question though, why do we persist in playing out from the back? Our defenders generally aren’t comfortable on the ball and there are few options open to them as there is so little movement from the midfield/strikers. Why not go long occasionally, particularly if it is done quickly before the opposition can reset.
How nice to see someone point out how difficult things were made for Sanchez. I’d add that from what I remember (I’m trying not too though) our midfield’s profligacy was as much a problem for our CBs as Reggie was.