OPINION
Tottenham were forced to dig deep against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon as they battled their way to a 1-0 win over a dogged Magpies side.
It was Heung-min Son’s long range strike, creeping under the body of goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, which sealed all three points for the Lilywhites at Wembley on a day where the lack of Harry Kane was evident.
There was no focal point up front for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, Fernando Llorente changing the game when he was substituted on for Lucas Moura, the Brazilian chosen to operate in Kane’s absence.
It was an experiment that failed to come off for Spurs and quite frankly it was clear Lucas was well off the desired quality to make a difference.
He might have found himself in the right position at the right time on numerous occasions but it was his lack of quality in terms of his finishing which let him and his teammates down and put any chances of snatching a win at risk.
Lucas is a quality operator, no doubts about that, but he really would thrive from being put into his natural wing role and could even swap with Son, the South Korean a much more potent threat as a centre forward.
One thing is absolutely certain though – this particular experiment has been a woeful failure and must come to an end if Tottenham are to pose a threat to their rivals at the top of the table.