Tottenham’s Djed Spence was adjusting his boot. Was what happened next a breach of ‘fair play’? – The Athletic
Since becoming Tottenham Hotspur head coach this summer, Thomas Frank has reminded everyone at the club of the value of set pieces.
Following on from Ange Postecoglou, who disparingly compared dead-ball situations to rugby scrums, Spurs’ efficiency and ingenuity from corner kicks is a significant reason why they are sitting third in the Premier League. Defender Micky van de Ven, who bagged the first brace of his six-year professional career in the 3-0 away win against Everton on Sunday, is their leading scorer this season, with all four of his goals coming from or shortly after a set piece. But they’re also among the best in the league at defending against them.
Frank and his set-piece coach Andreas Georgson approach the dead-ball aspect of the game as if it were a science, paying attention to every detail, zone and player to maximise their chances of success at either end of the pitch. The moment the structure that has been painstakingly put in place, developed and refined in training, has a piece missing, the whole arrangement can collapse — which is precisely what happened before Newcastle United scored the first goal in Tottenham’s 2-0 Carabao Cup last-16 defeat on Wednesday night.
Leading up to the corner in question midway through the first half, referee Chris Kavanagh allowed Spurs defender Djed Spence to take his boot off and adjust the laces around 10 yards from Sandro Tonali, who was setting up to take the set piece. It was not the first time the England international had issues with his boots during the match, attempting to alter them on multiple occasions during brief stoppages in play, suggesting there may have been an issue with the fit from the opening whistle.
With jeers becoming louder from the home support at St. James’ Park, and having given Spence over 40 seconds to adjust the boot, Kavanagh signalled to Tonali to take the corner. Spence was still on the floor.
As Tonali began his short run-up, he had yet to get back into position in the penalty area. When Fabian Schar powered a header past goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, Spence was still around five or six yards from the spot on the pitch he had occupied at Newcastle’s previous corner.
🗣️ “I feel that the referee should have given him a little more time to get in”
🗣️ “I think it’s harsh on Spurs”
Jobi McAnuff shares his thoughts on Spurs complaining about Newcastle’s first goal because Djed Spence was tying his shoelaces 💭 pic.twitter.com/so9qCuUAaj
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 29, 2025
“I feel it’s harsh on Spurs,” pundit Jobi McAnuff, who played for West Ham United and Crystal Palace among others over a 21-year professional career, said on British broadcaster Sky Sports’ coverage of the match.
“He’s (Spence) playing an important part in terms of where that ball is going to be delivered. That is where Djed Spence would be. I feel like the referee should have given him a little bit more time to get in. I know there’s going to be an argument against that.”
The corner was taken as Spence, circled, was running back into position (Sky Sports)
With Spence not even in frame, the highlighted Schar had a free header, and gave Newcastle the lead (Sky Sports)
Immediately after Schar put Newcastle in front, Frank directed his frustration towards the fourth official. He later confirmed Spence was responsible for marking the eventual goalscorer.
“I think the first was a mistake from Chris (Kavanagh), the ref, because he didn’t allow Djed time to come back in, which he clearly should have done,” he told Sky Sports. “He’s supposed to mark Schar, who scored. So I think that was the first mistake.
“It’s very, very rarely I comment on any decision, but this we need to comment (on) because it was completely common sense.”
In this age, where set pieces seem to reign supreme — 19 per cent of all goals in England’s top-flight this season have been scored from corners (45 of 241), the highest share in the 33-year Premier League era — does Frank have a point? There is no rule that Kavanagh violated in giving Spence time to get into position, and it would be plausible to suggest that the 46.5 seconds (as timed by Sky Sports) it took for the Spurs man to sort his boot and get back into position was more than enough.
But in the interests of fair play, Newcastle, who have scored four goals from set pieces this season in the league (one fewer than Tottenham), may not have been entirely pleased if the proverbial boot was on the other foot. In a game settled by fine margins, the referee’s decision to wave play on left Spurs at a significant disadvantage. This was punished by Eddie Howe’s side, who will now be playing at home against Fulham in the December quarter-finals.
What few can dispute, however, is that Tottenham were deservedly beaten on the night. Before Schar profited from the breakdown in their set-piece structure on 24 minutes, Newcastle had already sliced through them from open play on several occasions.
Though it took Newcastle’s opener to jolt Tottenham into action, there were moments in the aftermath where their forwards and midfielders connected in a way they have struggled to do for much of the season so far. In the 4-4-2 structure, which occasionally resembled the 4-2-2-2 popularised by the Red Bull football group, it’s perhaps no surprise that Xavi Simons appeared to come alive, receiving the ball in pockets and showing glimpses of the talent fans were anticipating when he arrived from Germany’s RB Leipzig in the summer.
As inverted No 10s, Simons and Lucas Bergvall were involved, fluid and as likely as anyone to create a moment of magic — something that has been lacking from Spurs in open play for much of the campaign.
“I think the way we played the game in how we built from behind in phase one and especially in phase two, I think we controlled the game much more,” Frank said. “I think we had some short connections in the middle of the pitch. I think we found Lucas (Bergvall) and Xavi (Simons) in good positions. I think it was one of our better offensive performances of the season. It was not like we created 500 per cent chances, but we created some really big chances.”
Unfortunately, Guglielmo Vicario was not around to deliver an inspired performance to keep them in the game, with backup Kinsky at fault for Newcastle’s second, which ultimately killed the tie and Spurs’ hopes of adding another trophy to their cabinet after that Europa League final triumph in May.
But they will have left Tyneside with a lesson that might prove as valuable moving forward: always make sure your boots are properly tied and snug before you step onto the pitch.
