Opening day defeats are always a bitter pill to swallow.
Even more so when you know you had the chances to take something from a game the pundits would have had you, beforehand, believing was impossible.
In the face of adversity, the lads did, I thought, very well against Tottenham.
Delving into the world of social media after the game, I stumbled across some interesting posts, many of which share my view:
Denied by inches and millimetres. Good performance by the team.
— Barry Blakely (@BarryBlakely) August 12, 2018
Yes, it was painful to see us go so close to grabbing what would have been a deserved equaliser.
Continuing:
Missed opportunity as Spurs were there for the taking yesterday. Had we been a bit more clinical in front of goal and tighter at the back in the first half I think we could of won the game comfortably. Very encouraging performance tho.
P.S where’s the money gone?
— Glen (@Glen93109870) August 12, 2018
Spurs, tipped by many to be ready to mount a title challenge, did look a bit sloppy at times with Harry Kane looking to be not at the races and far too often, for my liking, Spurs were willing to stop Newcastle surges with poor tackles which should have seen yellow cards brandished.
Continuing:
Encouraging performance. Can't help but think Richie being taken off though was the wrong decision.
— Ali Speight (@ALSP8) August 12, 2018
Yes, Matt didn’t look too pleased with being hauled off, his cross for the equaliser was sublime and perhaps there was more to come.
But, did, in the end, we engineer our own downfall with some poor defending:
Conceded 2 pathetic goals even League 1 teams can defend them
it's bad when i say our players need to defend better against basic long balls & direct crosses, it should be a natural thing, can't show sign of struggle dealing with these things otherwise teams will exploit it #NUFC— nEwCaStLe fOr LiFe (@77_SH_ER) August 12, 2018
I can’t help but agree, Alli was in acres of space for the second goal and there was no challenge on Vertonghen for that first goal.
But, it wouldn’t be Newcastle if we didn’t ponder what if:
Just imagine what we could have done if Rafa had been given the all the money the club generates, as promised by Cashley. Wheres all the money gone?
— Tom Nolan (@Tomtomnolan1) August 12, 2018
Indeed, the golden question, a perfect point to end this article on.
Has anyone any ideas where it has all gone?
Please feel free to air your views in our comments facility beneath this article.