Show pony Lamela must be dropped

It was another let's look pretty but not do anything performance. Mentally weak lacking that scoring is everything mentality when attacking.

Show pony Lamela must be dropped


Tottenham were not at their best in the first half but didn't have to be against a Newcastle United team playing with no belief. Tottenham used some nice interplay but a times this intricate football fails, just as it kept doing at Manchester City last week and that gave the ball away to give Newcastle their chances.

The players just seem more interested in looking good in midfield without creating much. The killer instinct is missing and turning this squad around is no easy task. Pochettino is under instruction to get the best out of Lamela who can shine against weak opposition but against Premier League teams is simply a show pony. The odd pass for an assist is not good enough.

Lighweight Lamela was being carried by Tottenham, which with a centre-back learning the right-back role is making us very weak down the right side. As Danny Murphy was pointing out in the NBC coverage Dier looks tired, too tired to overlap like he started out in the role doing. He is in need of a rest, which is why Chiriches should have played against Asteras Tripolis at right-back on Thursday.

That was a mistake and it was a mistake leaving Lamela on the field so long, it then became too late for anyone to affect the game as we panicked and just started running with the ball or players trying to do it all themselves.

Mason was bullied out the game by Sissoko in the second half having looked good in the first. Our front four were not interchanging again but simply playing with inverted wingers and we have seen these Spurs players can't play that system effectively. Eriksen had a poor game again, overplaying everything.

If you want to judge by top four standards, which you should be doing, there are too many who wouldn't get near the team. People didn't like me saying this is a mid table team but today showed that is what it is. I'll say again Eriksen and Lamela can not be played in the same team, it makes the midfield too lightweight, one or the other has to play and at the minute that's Eriksen.

Lamela was taken off after 77 minutes, far too late, Lennon should have been brought on at least 15 minutes earlier if not at half-time. Newcastle simply made a substitution to put two players on him but Spurs didn't play Lennon the ball. Danny Rose was the best player for us by a distance, Kaboul was error prone again, Capoue was bought as a box-to-box midfielder, not as he is being okayed now as a defensive midfielder, he's not good enough for the role.

European football next season is a long way off and we have no chance of winning the UEFA Europa League. Fans better start getting used to the idea of finishing mid table because this is not a team, it's a side of individuals and there were too many on the field who aren't good enough.