Tottenham vs. Newcastle: 8 Lessons Learned from Spurs' 5-0 EPL Victory

Many expected that this was a match Tottenham would struggle in, and could maybe even lose, but on his return Harry Redknapp showed how important he is to his team by spurring (pun intended) them on to an enormous victory.

Despite the continued absence of Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon and Rafael van der Vaart from the starting lineup, it was an inclusion, rather than an omission, that decided the game.

Louis Saha's impressive double in his first start ensured that Tottenham would go on to record their biggest and easily most impressive win of the season.

Here's what we learned from Saturday's matchup between Spurs and Newcastle.

Two Strikers = Great Success

It sure feels good to be right.

As I said in my predictions, and as I've always said in previous predictions, Tottenham are a much more fearsome force when they start with two strikers than when they start with one.

Though I did not predict that Tottenham would dominate Newcastle by the margin and in the way that they did, I always knew that with the right formation, Tottenham could wreck havoc on just about any team.

And as it turns out, I was right.

Turns out Saha Isn't Washed-Up After All

I'll admit—even I was skeptical about Tottenham signing Louis Saha.

Even though I knew he was going to be our third-choice striker (or fourth if you consider Van der Vaart a striker), I still did not feel too good about having an off-form veteran who's looked largely washed-up this season (Saha) replace a seasoned international still in his prime (Roman Pavlyuchenko).

But as it turns out, Louis Saha still has plenty to contribute after all.

Fans of Louis Saha probably could've seen this coming. After all, Louis Saha has always flourished with a strike partner, but when put up front by himself (as he was at Everton), Saha struggles to produce goals.

He's kind of like Emmanuel Adebayor in that regard, although Adebayor actually has been successful as a lone striker in the past (with Arsenal though, not Tottenham).

In any case, it was great to see Saha bag two quick goals to wrap up this match and prove to his doubters that he indeed is not done contributing just yet.

Where are those haters now?

Emmanuel Adebayor: Back with a Bang

Prior to this game, Adebayor hadn't scored or assisted goal in five games. His ineffectiveness in front of goal was starting to affect the team's results, as the team had recorded three draws in his last five starts.

So how did Adebayor choose to respond? With one goal and four assists against Newcastle.

That's probably the best response you'll ever get from a striker after being off-form for five consecutive games.

It's hard to say whether it was Louis Saha's inclusion or Newcastle's shambolic defending that allowed Adebayor to have the game he did, but it's pretty safe to say that Adebayor is well and truly back. 

I predicted that Adebayor vs. Fabricio Coloccini would be one of the key matchups to watch during the day, and indeed it was.

Coloccini, Newcastle's defensive lynchpin, was absolutely torn up on defense today, and his performance negatively impacted his teammates as well.

Adebayor was at the center of all of Tottenham's good play today, and his ability to link up with his teammates effectively led to him delivering one of the performances of the season.

Massive Quality Gap Between Spurs's Midfield and Newcastle's

Going into this match, the absence of Cheikh Tiote and Yohan Cabaye ment that Newcastle's midfielders were going to have a very tough time coping with the quality of Luka Modric and Scott Parker.

As I said in my predictions, Danny Guthrie was going to need to have a huge game for Newcastle to get anything out of this game.

In the end, it was his teammate, James Perch, who put in a decent showing, while Danny Guthrie went missing. And Newcastle paid the price as a result.

Despite picking up a yellow card, Scott Parker broke up Newcastle's play with relative ease, while Luka Modric's runs into the box and passes in Newcastle's half were a constant cause for concern.

He didn't pick up any direct assists or record a goal, but Modric's cross was essential to creating the third goal, and his passing allowed Tottenham to dominate 65 percent of the game's possession.

Gabriel Obertan: Not Premier League Quality?

When I heard of Obertan's transfer from Manchester United to Newcastle, I thought it was a smart move by Alan Pardew.

After all, Obertan had seen limited playing time at Manchester United, but it was clear that he had a great deal of pace, and at the age of only 21, he was surely going to develop further over time.

But on the back of this performance, and the one he put in against Aston Villa, I'm not so sure.

Obertan still has his pace, but his crossing, from what I've seen of it, is very poor. He tends to go badly missing when his team isn't in the ascendancy, and that was exactly what happened today as he was nowhere to be found.

His absence in the game deprived Newcastle's strikers from receiving good service from the wings, and considering he's only scored once and assisted two goals in 20 games this season, it's hard to see Newcastle keeping him around for too long.

Harry Redknapp Will Not Become England's New Manager

Why would anyone want to leave one of the most exciting teams in the world right now (yes, that's right, not the EPL—the world), with some of the most humble players in the world, for a team that consistently underperforms and consists of drama queens and big-headed egomaniacs?

Okay, so maybe I don't have enough evidence to support the idea that Redknapp won't become England's next manager.

I think he'd be crazy to choose England over Spurs (he's already ruled out doing both jobs at once), but British managers apparently feel some strange draw to the England job that non-Brits like myself cannot.

But what is certain is that Redknapp will be leaving a great group of players who respect him and feed off his energy for a group of players who test his patience on a regular basis.

Furthermore, it has to be emphasized that Redknapp is a club management guy. International management is almost completely about tactics.

There are no finances involved, very little youth development, no transfer wheeling-and-dealing (no matter how much he denies it, Redknapp loves this), and telling your players to "go out and play" won't get the job done internationally.

They say that "you never know a good thing until it's gone," and if Redknapp left Spurs for England, I think he'd definitely experience that feeling of regret after a few months in the job.

Tottenham Are Title Contenders...If They Want to Be

The Tottenham we saw play against Newcastle was very different from the one that played against Liverpool this past Monday.

This Tottenham was attacking, exciting and confident. It knew that it could get any result it wanted to if it just stuck to playing its football in the right formation.

The Tottenham against Liverpool was overly cautious, timid and satisfied with a point. It dropped its expectations and convinced itself that a point at Anfield was a good result for a club like Spurs, one not traditionally considered to be among the best in England.

If the former Tottenham is the one we continue to see, there's no reason why Tottenham can't be title contenders. The lineup that played against Newcastle is good enough to rival any lineup in the country.

But if the latter continues to come out against the EPL's stronger opponents, like Chelsea and Arsenal, both of whom Spurs play next, then Tottenham should just be content with third place.

My opinion? To use another cliche, "If you shoot for the stars, you'll land on the moon." If Tottenham go for the title, then the lowest position they're likely to finish in is third. But they'll be able to say they fought all the way, and maybe they'll even finish second or third with enough luck and determination.

If Tottenham don't go for the title, they'll still most likely finish third; it would take a meltdown of immense proportions for Tottenham to lose their third position spot in the league. But they'll have to keep dreaming of next year to put up a title challenge, and who knows what changes lie ahead in the future.

Here's hoping that Tottenham focus on the hear and now, and try to be as successful as they can be. There's hardly anything to lose if they do, and very much to gain.

Newcastle: The Roller Coaster Continues

Newcastle came into this game in fine form. They'd won four of their last five matches, including a 3-0 win over Manchester United.

They had their first-choice strike partnership fit and ready, and on the back of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse's performances against Aston Villa, it looked like goals would definitely flow at White Hart Lane for Newcastle.

Instead, the Magpies suffered their worst defeat of the season and will have much to improve before their next game with Wolves.

As has already been discussed, much went wrong in this game for Newcastle, and going into the game, the absence of Tiote and Cabaye was always going to hurt. 

With Cabaye finally back, the Newcastle's quality in midfield will surely improve, and what has been a weakness over the last three games will go back to being a strength.

But what of Newcastle's league position? Are they still Champions League and Europa League contenders, or just a decent mid-table EPL team?

I believe it's important not to overemphasize the impact of this loss on Newcastle. When everyone is fit and available, they are a top-notch team, and as their players slowly return from suspension, international duty and injuries, they'll become stronger.

Wolves shouldn't be a hard team to overcome, and from there their schedule isn't easy, but it isn't too difficult either. 

For now, Newcastle are still Champions League contenders, although fifth place looks more likely with Arsenal improving down the stretch. What will really determine Newcastle's end-of-season position will be how they perform over a three- or four-game stretch, rather than one huge loss.

In the words of Roberto Mancini, "It's better to lose one time 5-1 than five times 1-0."