Frank Lampard insists that Tottenham had enough opportunities to have scored plenty of goals against Newcastle, suggesting that Son Heung-min lacked the striker’s instinct to make runs into the six-yard box.
While there were positives to take for Spurs from the way they bossed the game at a tough away ground in St James’ Park, the Tottenham players and coaching staff will be extremely frustrated once again by the fact that they threw away the points.
It was the same old story for the Lilywhites, whose poor decision-making and lack of composure in the final third cost them dearly.
Ange Postecoglou admitted after the game that the defeat was a hard pill to swallow and that his side had to be more ruthless in the final third, but he insisted that they would get their rewards if they kept producing these kinds of performances (The Standard).
While some have raised question marks about how open Spurs were at the back for the goals they conceded, Lampard insisted that it is the trade-off that Tottenham make to get bodies into the box, pointing the finger at their attackers for failing to make most of their chances.
When asked if the Tottenham defenders could tell their forwards that they should have scored more, the Chelsea legend told BBC Match of the Day 2: “They could definitely say that. If you are talking about risk and reward. And style of play, then Tottenham do stay true to themselves. We know how they want to play.
“One of the effective things they do is get lots of players forward in and around the box, with their fullbacks and Porro joining in all the time. We saw it was an afternoon of a lot of opportunities and they spurned, for whatever reason. Whether it be the execution, the finish or the decision-making.
“This one here (Odobert chance at the far post after Brennan Johnson cross). I think it’s decision-making, in terms of, you have to head that. When that ball drops down there, it’s really hard to stay on top of the ball with your knee, which he ends up doing. You have to head that. It’s a big, big massive chance.
“After that, it was a moment of getting a lot of numbers forward. For whatever reason, not getting the right finish. Newcastle, yes, a lot of bodies behind the ball, but this wasn’t so much good Newcastle defending. I think it was Tottenham not making most of the chances.
“This is a strange movement from Son (as Johnson is going to cross the ball from the right flank). When he is the one striker and number nine in the box. It might be because he’s not an out-an-out striker. He goes for the cut-back when he should be getting into the six-yard box, so it’s an afternoon of those things and it not going right for them.”
Spurs Web Opinion
This is exactly the reason why Tottenham signed Solanke, who is adept at getting on the end of crosses in and around the six-yard box. His availability could have made all the difference against Newcastle, given the number of balls our wide players played into a good area.
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