Brad Friedel was right to immediately applaud the performance of his opposite number Tim Krul straight after the Dutchman pulled out a sensational performance to help his Newcastle side hold onto their slender 1-0 lead against Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
"He played outstanding today," said the American veteran after his 450th Premier League appearance.
"There were two or three decent chances I think and he made two great saves in the first half. The second after half time they were the consequences of balls just hitting him or him making great saves and it was a day that he'll remember I'm sure.
"He's going to go home feeling a million dollars that's for sure."
Krul's magnificent performance may have been a major factor in securing Newcastle's surprise win but the fact of the matter remains that, after creating 31 strikes on goal, and putting 14 of them on target, Tottenham couldn't find the back of the net once against.
With just nine goals from 10 games, Spurs have scored seven goals fewer than any other side in the Premier League's top five, and showed few signs of being able to dramatically improve that statistic on Sunday. Andros Townsend, who has taken 45 shots on goal already this season, joined Sandro and Paulinho in firing in wild attempts from long range, while Roberto Soldado once again lacked a midfield three behind him that can create opportunities for the Spanish forward.
Gylfi Sigurdsson continues to be played out on the flanks, far from the central position that brought him such joy and made him an dynamic playmaker at Swansea over a year ago, while the lack of pressure on the flanks made Christian Eriksen an easy target to out muscle and swap in the heart of the midfield.
Tottenham's attacks, even in the second half as they attempted to pepper Krul's goal with strikes, looked disjointed and lacked a style of play. Players became bunched and static in the final third of the pitch and would have surely been exposed on the counter attack, had Newcastle possessed the composure to play their way out of danger.
Some may say that Spurs are missing the services of Gareth Bale, but what they actually miss is a player that can stretch the play by posing a credible threat down the flanks as well as down the middle. When Townsend is having an off day like the one he had on Sunday, neither Sigurdsson nor Eriksen can fill that role. We wait to see if Eric Lamella can adjust to life in England a little quicker and produce the performances he put in on the flanks at Roma before we rest all out hopes on Aaron Lennon.
Freidel, though, isn't phased by the lacklustre performances I front of goal and is 100% sure that Tottenham can turn around their season on their return from the international break.
"We have so many quality players that have goals in them," continued the Tottenham shot stopper.
"I don't think that, come the end of the season, that our goal tally is going to be one of the lower ones, I think it's going to be up there.
"With the quality that we have, when you see the quality in training on a daily basis it's not a lack of confidence or anything of that nature and it will come good."
Source: DSG
