Yahoo News Harry Kane aside, another painfully predictable Tottenham result raises questions over Jose Mourinho’s tactics
Kane’s two goals were only good enough for one point
(Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I)Tottenham conceded late again to draw 2-2 with Newcastle and miss the chance to move into the Premier League top four.
Joe Willock’s close-range strike five minutes from time was the eighth goal Spurs have conceded after the 80th-minute in the top flight this season – a grim total of 15 dropped points.
It was a painfully predictable and familiar end to an abject Spurs display, almost single-handedly made credible by Harry Kane, who scored a quick-fire double but was ultimately unable to drag Jose Mourinho’s side to three points.
For beleaguered Newcastle, a draw was the least they deserved after finishing with 22 shots, including a whopping 17 inside the penalty area.
Those numbers reflected the awfulness of Tottenham’s defending and the sloppiness of their play.
After defeats for Chelsea and Leicester on Saturday, a win against Steve Bruce’s struggling side - who were without Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin from the start - would have moved Spurs into the top four, but their performance will only raise more doubts about Jose Mourinho’s tactics and the quality of his squad.
Kane had put the visitors in control immediately after Joelinton capitalised on horrendous defending to give the Toon a 28th-minute lead, but the second half followed a familiar pattern of Mourinho’s side seemingly attempting to defend their way to victory rather than try to score more goals.
Naturally, the approach did not work, just as it has not done since autumn, and Spurs were left to rue a great opportunity missed as they prepare for a daunting visit of Manchester United next weekend.
Kane Spurs’s saviour
Following a fortnight where Kane’s future has been the subject of more troubling but tedious speculation, this was a reminder – as if it was needed – of his importance to Spurs.
In an uninspired and incoherent Tottenham display, regularly punctuated by sloppy mistakes, Kane was a shining light, scoring twice to drag the visitors a point.
His first goal involved an element of fortune as a ricochet off goalkeeper Martin Dubravka left him with a simple finish into an open net but his second was a superb, trademark strike.
Collecting Tanguy Ndombele’s pass, Kane took a touch and rifled a low finish across the goalkeeper. It was a difficult chance, made to look easy.
He nearly bagged a hat-trick in the second half, forcing a close-range save from Dubravka and striking the base of the post with a deflected strike.
Kane is already top for Premier League assists this season, with 13, and his doubled move him above Mo Salah as the outright top scorer, too.
He also went above Lionel Messi for direct goal involvement’s in Europe’s top five leagues this season, second only to Robert Lewandowski.
As talk turns to the Premier League player of the season, with talk of Bruno Fernandes, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne, it is hard to think what more Kane could be doing for Spurs.
His latest match-winning display came on the back of 179 minutes for England this week and goals in the wins over Albania and Poland. There is no player more important to club or country right now.
He deserved better than the performances of many of his team-mates and it was genuinely alarming to imagine how poor a Spurs display it would have been without him.
Mourinho’s young defence shaky
The manager stuck with the same XI that beat Aston Villa before the international break, including young defenders Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga.
Toby Alderweireld and Serge Aurier, meanwhile, were left out of the squad altogether, with Mourinho explaining afterwards that they had arrived back from international duty too late to be Covid-tested before the fixture.
While Rodon was individually assured, Spurs’ young defence – which had an average age of under 24 – was abysmal as a unit, with Sanchez and right-back Tanganga particularly shaky.
The duo both gave the ball away ahead of Joelinto’s easy finish, and made a succession of poor errors. The defensive unit was all at sea again when Willock arrived to slam home off the underside of the bar.
Had it not been for Hugo Lloris, who made a fine double save to deny Dwight Gayle and kept out Miguel Almiron’s effort, Spurs would have conceded more to a Newcastle side who have been toothless in the final third since Wilson’s injury.
Mourinho appears to be sidelining Alderweireld and Aurier, while Eric Dier is out of favour, but on this evidence even a drastic change of personnel has not improved Spurs’s defensive woes.
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