Tottenham 2 - 1 Newcastle: Forget Bale, Gouffran Was The Game Changer

Yoan Gouffran In the wake of Tottenham's hard-fought 2-1 home victory against Newcastle in the early kick off today, all of the plaudits will go to Gareth Bale, the Welsh wizard who once again dragged a result out of his team when the game looked to be heading away from them, but it wasn't the two-goal winger who had the greatest impact on the game. That accolade goes to Newcastle's French attacker Yoan Gouffran, who looked all set for a man of the match performance before he was forced off on a stretcher after a clash with Kyle Walker. His goal might have been a wicked deflection, and his game time might have been cruelly limited thanks to a wayward, but unintentional set of studs on his shin, but Gouffran was a major influence for Newcastle. And more importantly, he was a massive loss when he went off. From the start of the game, the Frenchman looked as strong as he has for the past two games, willing to run with the ball and look to bring Moussa Sissoko and Papiss Cisse into play, and just as happy to track back to help his full-back. The Spurs game even saw the player chip in with a goal, which was the right reward for his clever approach play and the sense he had to hang back as Cisse pulled two Spurs players into the six yard box. With Gouffran running with the ball on the left, Newcastle's lack of wide options on the other side didn't look as pronounced, but though Gutierrez's industry cannot be faulted, his actual impact is considerably less than it has been in the past. The sooner Hatem Ben Arfa gets back to full fitness, the better. When Gouffran was stretchered off, Alan Pardew made the only sensible decision, bringing on Sylvain Marveaux, in what could be deemed a like for like swap, at least on paper. That in itself was an upturn for Newcastle, as in previous weeks the manager might have brought on Shola Ameobi and changed the formation yet again - but for once, the right decision came with a poor reaction. Marveaux likes to play through the middle - he is an attacking midfielder who has been pushed out of the side not by Gouffran, but by Sissoko, and forced to play out wide he wasn't effective. I struggle to remember any touches he made, let alone any impactful play, and Tottenham found a lot more space and less pressure to start playing with more ease and fluidity in the second half. There was no Gouffran to harry their players down the left, which had forced the line of the Newcastle team further up the pitch looking to benefit from that pressure, and as a result the Magpies defensive line creeped back, and they effectively stopped playing the way that had found success in the first half. One player went off, but the entire team felt it - which is precisely why Moussa Sissoko looked so tired by the end. Yes, Bale might have scored two goals (though he wouldn't have if James Perch had done what 99% of defenders standing in a wall would have done and jumped), but he went missing for the middle portion of the game, and no amount of proclaiming him the greatest player in the world makes it the truth. Bale will have to leave Tottenham in order to realise that potential, if indeed it is there, because he cannot flourish as he should when he is trying to drag ten other players towards a result. At times, Bale was in the right-back position for Spurs, and that is plainly wrong no matter how you look at it. So while the world goes mad for Bale for another week, think about the injured Newcastle player who had a far bigger impact on the tactics of his team. One cost less than a million, the other is likely to command an astronomical, ridiculous sum when he moves on to pastures new.
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