Pundit hammers Tottenham duo for roles in Newcastle defeat as return dates for key trio revealed

Two Tottenham stars were accused of not doing their jobs properly after being at fault for Newcastle’s winner as Ange Postecoglou’s men suffered another defeat on Tyneside on Sunday.

St James’ Park has been an unhappy hunting ground for Spurs during the Premier League era, and so it proved again despite a largely dominant display against the hosts.

However, Tottenham failed to make the most of their chances again, as they had at Leicester in their away opener, and were made to pay when Alexander Isak netted the winner for Eddie Howe’s men.

Playing a high defensive line again, Sky Sports co-commentator Andy Hinchcliffe was particularly critical of Cristian Romero for ball-watching and Destiny Udogie for allowing Jacob Murphy to easily get in behind the defence.

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The pundit stressed the importance of Tottenham’s defenders maintaining awareness of their surroundings and positioning themselves better to counter potential threats.

Hinchcliffe said: “Defensively from Tottenham, this is just truly dreadful.

“Don’t ball-watch, you have to drop off. Romero just seems to be watching the ball, no idea where [Jacob] Murphy is, [Destiny] Udogie hasn’t tracked him in.

“It’s too easy for Murphy to get in behind that Tottenham back line.”

Tottenham trio in race to face Arsenal

The defensive issues that often plagued Tottenham again were once again in evidence at St James’ Park, although they were compounded by the loss of Micky van de Ven prior to the game.

Van de Ven jarred his knee against Everton but was then pictured in training before the trip to Newcastle. However, the centre-back sat out the game at Newcastle as Postecoglou was unwilling to risk the player given Romani international Radu Dragusin was ready to deputise.

Postecoglou said: “Micky was close in training this week but with the international break he’s not quite 100 per cent. Part of me was keen to give Radu a run, especially at this venue, so yeah we’re going with Radu today.”

Asked if it was disappointing, the manager replied: “No, not really. It’s nothing serious. We’ve got a heaped programme straight after the international break so we’re going to need all our back four. So getting Radu a game today I think is a positive thing for us.”

Van de Ven has now withdrawn from the Netherlands squad for the upcoming international break to focus on his recovery and there is every expectation he will be ready to face north London Arsenal in two weeks’ time.

Record signing Dominic Solanke was also missed on Tyneside after picking up an ankle injury against Leicester that has ruled him out for two games so far.

Speaking before the Newcastle trip, Postecoglou said: “Dom is close but we’re going to be a bit cautious with him, we’ve got a big programme post the international break, so he’ll miss out.”

Richarlison could face longer absence

Solanke is, however, expected to be fit to face Arsenal on September 15, which is great news for Postecoglou given that Richarlison could still be missing for the north London derby.

The Brazilian will have hoped to take advantage of Solanke’s absence but picked up an injury in training ahead of the Newcastle outing.

Postecoglou gave no exact timeline for Richarlison but, having not been called up by Brazil for the upcoming international break, he will remain at Hotspur Way to continue his rehabilitation.

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The Australian told reporters on Friday: “The only other one we got midweek is Richarlison, who unfortunately picked up an injury in training, so he’ll probably miss the next few weeks.”

Tottenham did at least have key midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur available again over the weekend after he passed the concussion protocol, although he was only used from the bench against Newcastle.