Tottenham will be kicking themselves for their missed opportunities after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United on Sunday.
Ange Postecoglou will be wondering. How did we lose that one? But in truth, it has now become an unfortunate common theme during his stewardship.
A lot of talk is around Tottenham’s very poor finishing and that was on display in bucket loads at St James’ Park, but so was their abject defending.
This wasn’t like Spurs defeat to Newcastle during their last two visits – that was truly embarrassing of the highest order – but there were moments where their defence let them down again.
Harvey Barnes opened the scoring for Newcastle with a clever finish just before half-time, but a lot of it could and should been avoided.
Micky van de Ven was absent for Tottenham, which meant that Cristian Romero was partnering back-up option Radu Dragusin at the heart of the defence.
But for the opening goal Spurs conceded, Romero proceeded to go out of position, chase the ball towards the halfway line, fail to win it and it then put his backline under immense pressure.
Shay Given stated that Romero went on a ‘mad one’ and it put many things out of place for the London club, including leaving goalscorer Barnes unmarked inside the penalty area.
The former goalkeeper pointed out that the World Cup winner is supposed to be the ‘main man’ for his team and the ‘leader’ at the back, yet he didn’t showcase it, as he told Match of the Day 2.
Cristian Romero’s defending
“There were question marks over the defence, definitely,” said Given. “This is a straightforward ball from Nick Pope, you see the back four, they aren’t together and there is no leadership. They should be together as a back four, with the two centre-halves pushed up. It’s just a clearance from Nick Pope up the field, a brilliant touch from Anthony Gordon, but now they are in trouble. Chasing back from their own goal. This was a warning.
“This was the first goal. We highlight Romero here, who is your main centre-half, the main leader at the back. He just goes on a mad one here. I have no idea where he is going, to be honest. He chases down twice and there is no real action to get back into defensive shape.
“We highlight Bissouma, he now needs to get back and cover for his centre-half because he sees Isak in a dangerous position. I think Bissouma would be in the position Barnes is (instead of having to mark Isak) if Romero didn’t go on a mad one. And he scores. It goes back to leadership at the back. Leadership as a team.”
Tottenham’s defensive issues
Tottenham’s 1-1 draw at Leicester on the opening weekend of the new season was just the same and it isn’t a good look for the team.
Romero was criticised for his performance then, as Postecoglou needs to sort out his team’s away performances and results.
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It would be helpful if players like Romero could showcase some maturity and consistency in their game because the £42 million signing is proving to be costly on many occasions.
On his day, Spurs fans know that he is one of the best in the Premier League, but there are far too many performances that leave fans frustrated.
The post 'I have no idea': Shay Given blasts £42m Tottenham star who went on a 'mad one' during Newcastle defeat appeared first on HITC.
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