WHITE HART LANE, London — Newcastle United do not care about domestic cup competitions. That is not an exaggeration, merely a statement of fact.
Over recent seasons, the club’s hierarchy have made no secret of the fact that domestic cups are not a priority for them; that surviving in the Premier League—and ensuring the cash windfall that comes with it—is the one and only ambition.
That might be the sort of pragmatic approach that the demands, and rewards, of modern football force upon a club. Even so, it is sad to see a club with supporters as magnificent as Newcastle’s limp out of what was increasingly looking like a winnable competition in the manner they did against Tottenham on Wednesday evening.
Newcastle have not won a trophy of note since 1969 or one on home soil since 1955. At White Hart Lane, they entered the Capital One Cup quarter-final match knowing victory would bring them within one tie of Wembley, and that there was a 33 percent chance that the one team standing in their way would be League One side Sheffield United.
As far as chances of breaking that trophy drought go, this was about as good as the club could hope for.
Nevertheless, Alan Pardew named a rotated side for the game (in fairness, Spurs did exactly the same thing), leaving Papiss Cisse and Daryl Janmaat (among others) at home, while giving forward Emmanuel Riviere his first start since September.
The visitors, playing in that garish grey and lime-grey away kit, nevertheless started brightly, but a dropped cross by inexperienced goalkeeper Jak Alnwick gave Spurs an early lead, and the hosts never looked back.“If ever goals changed games, this was it,” Pardew bemoaned afterward. "I thought the game was pretty even really, but Jak makes a mistake on a cross…you can get away with that sometimes, but it summed up our night really."
He added: "All of us were so desperate to resurrect it for him. It’s a cruel game, as we all know, and Jak’s really in the firing line at the minute. We had some big chances we didn’t take."
Newcastle did have a couple of “big” chances—glorious ones, in fact—but it was Spurs who edged the overall play and ultimately increased the scoreline at regular intervals.
Mauricio Pochettino also “freshened” his lineup, but the greater depth of his squad was evident by the names listed on the substitutes bench (Erik Lamela's opposite number was Adam Armstrong)—and so a side that has always prided itself on its FA Cup and League Cup achievements moved a step closer to adding another chapter to that history.
They will face Sheffield United in the semis, with Chelsea and Liverpool meeting in the other tie.“I think it was very important for us,” Pochettino said. “We needed this victory and this performance. Our players needed to feel this freedom and confidence.
"The team is starting to show more solidity, more character—I think we showed today we believe in our way, and I’m very pleased with that.
“We can go to the semi-final; we know Tottenham have a tradition in the cups and this victory is very important for us.”
Pochettino also professed himself “very happy,” sounding very much like a man who had seen his side turn an important corner. Yet despite that, and how embarrassing it threatened to get late on, it was the travelling supporters who drowned out the home fans with their chanting throughout, a credit to their club even as such a tantalising shot at a trophy slipped through their fingers.
“At one point I was just absorbing what the fans were doing,” Pardew acknowledged afterward, having made a point of recognising them at the final whistle. “They were with us all game.”
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2303563-newcastles-league-cup-collapse-leaves-alan-pardew-one-game-from-trouble-again
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