‘More composure’ – Postecoglou admits Spurs may have missed a striker today

Tottenham Hotspur came away from St. James’ Park with no points this afternoon after a 2-1 defeat, and Ange Postecoglou had plenty to say about the number of chances his side created and whether a striker was the missing ingredient.

Did Spurs need a striker?

With no recognised striker in the side, the clash with Newcastle was always going to be a challenge for Spurs today, but a number of missed opportunities make the result all the more disappointing for the away team.

Newcastle had the lead at half-time, but Spurs came out with fire in their bellies in the second and were on level terms after ten minutes through a Dan Burn own goal.

With the impetus behind them, the Lilywhites pushed for a winner, but failed to convert a number of chances, and they were made to suffer with ten minutes to go, as Newcastle broke the Spurs defence with one pass, and Alexander Isak slotted home into an empty net.

So, Spurs boss Postecoglou has plenty to work on. Speaking after the game (via Football.London), he appeared positive about the fact the chances were coming, though, and played down the idea that his side could have won if they had a striker in the team.

He said: “Potentially [the lack of a natural striker was a problem]. I still think even outside of that we just had some really good opportunities, a little bit more composure. Fair play to [Nick] Pope, I thought he had an outstanding game. But I thought we could have tested him a few more times with just some better decision-making.”

Positive signs are there

Still, Spurs managed 20 shots today, and it sounds like that kind of chance creation has pleased Postecoglou in some ways at least.

He added: “It’s not just the opportunities we did create. I thought there was another probably six to 10 moments where we could have created even more opportunities. That’s been a constant theme for us that we’re trying to break through.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It’s all well and good creating these chances, but we have got to make them count. I don’t think you can blame it all on not having a proper striker in the team. We’ve got world-class players in there who should still be finishing these opportunities.

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