It was a tough afternoon for Tottenham, and a real sense of deja vu from last season’s capitulation which saw us 5-0 down after 21 minutes. This time after 21 minutes it was 0-0, but Newcastle were evidently the better team and everything Tottenham tried simply did not come off. They looked scared of the atmosphere and the opponents despite Newcastle having a second string defence, and a second string midfield barring Bruno Guimaraes. The injury crisis Newcastle had did not phase them as they dominated and created many good chances.
Tottenham were the architects of their own downfall though with the goals we conceded. Destiny Udogie was not strong enough in his attempts to deal with Antony Gordon and Cristian Romero came out of his position to deal with the fact Micky Van De Ven was out of position and Isak looked through one on one. The Dutch centre-back did well to get back but unfortunately slipped at the vital moment as Isak clinically scored. Minutes later a wayward Pedro Porro pass found its way to Antony Gordon who took it around Van De Ven, who slipped again, and made it 2-0.
From here Tottenham really struggled to create and Newcastle could easily have scored more, but it was 2-0 at the break and Tottenham usually are better in the second half. Well, not this time. Minutes after Emerson Royal replaced Porro due to injury, Son lost the ball inexplicably and a ball over the top from Bruno Guimaraes led to Isak cooly slotting in a third. Schar made it 4-0 from a corner. It was a shocking performance, and this happens away from home too many times. We’ve lost 4-2 at Brighton, 3-0 at Fulham and 4-0 at Newcastle, and all these are games we should be winning. It takes time and a process to improve, but Ange Postecoglou needs to show better tactical abilities in changing the game with tactics when we are really up against it. Ange uses his subs bench well usually, especially if Werner or Johnson are on the bench as they have pace against tired legs, but we continue to play the same way at 0-0, 4-0 up or 4-0 down and if we are 4-0 down it looks very erratic and deflating for the players. As Albert Einstein allegedly once said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”