Graeme Souness believes other teams will follow Newcastle United’s blueprint when facing Tottenham Hotspur this season after a performance which led to the Sky Sports' pundit heavily criticising Mauricio Pochettino's men.
Spurs, who suffered their first defeat of the campaign as they lost 1-0 to the Magpies on Sunday afternoon at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, produced a disappointing performance that resulted in them having just two shots on target, despite having 79.8 per cent of the possession.
While credit should be given to Newcastle, who will have eased some of the pressure on Steve Bruce's shoulders with the victory, Souness was quick to criticise Spurs’ showing.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Super Sunday after the game, the former Liverpool and Newcastle United manager said: “Prior to Newcastle scoring, the 38th minute was the first time Tottenham had a shot on goal. Newcastle were rigid and the whole team put a shift in.
“Spurs had 80 per cent possession but only two shots on target. That is not good enough. That’s the way teams will try and play against Tottenham now.”
But while Souness was critical of Spurs’ inability to make the most of their dominance in an attacking sense, he also hammered the defensive work of Danny Rose in the build-up to Joelinton's maiden Newcastle goal.
He added: “Danny Rose was caught napping for the first goal and he should have cleaned that up.
“He should have realised that (Davinson) Sanchez had lost Joelinton and he should have come in and got a block in.”
