Although they dominated a lot of the play at St James’ Park, Tottenham Hotspur ultimately left Tyneside with nothing to show for their efforts, another frustrating away trip for Ange Postecoglou.

Tottenham were excellent at home to a weary Everton team, the likes of Wilson Odobert and Son Heung-min tore the visitors apart.
However, it’s been a different story on the road for Postecoglou’s side so far this season, even if we are only three games in.

As mentioned, Spurs failed to turn their good play into clear-cut chances against Newcastle, and then were punished on two occasions by their hosts, who made the most of their limited chances.

That being said, Tottenham were missing a few key performers, the likes of Dominic Solanke and Micky van de Ven, who should return to face Arsenal after the international break.

Ange Postecoglou says Radu Dragusin took his Newcastle opportunity

Speaking during his press conference via football.london after the 2-1 defeat, Postecoglou was very complimentary about Radu Dragusin, who was handed a chance in Van de Ven’s absence.

Cristian Romero moved over to left centre-back because of the Dutchman’s absence, allowing Dragusin to play on his preferred side.

And Postecoglou was impressed by what he saw from the £25m-defender, saying he’ll play a big part in Spurs’ season.

Postecoglou said: “I thought he was good, Radu. It was a great opportunity to expose him. I mean, he’s only 22.

“He’s still a young man, especially for a defender and I thought exposing him to this atmosphere and the threat, the particular threat that Newcastle posed with Isak up front, he had to be really concentrated and I thought he was.

“I think he’s going to play a big part in our season. Him coming through that, that whole experience, will set him up well.”

Cristian Romero criticised for his defending

Although Postecoglou was happy with Dragusin’s performance, he perhaps won’t be as satisfied with Romero’s in a few moments against Newcastle.

Daniel Sturridge called Romero a ‘mad man’ for his role in the first goal Spurs conceded, even if the pundit respected the Argentinian’s efforts to chase the ball.

Even if Dragusin did step up well, Spurs’ defence certainly missed the balance Van de Ven provides.

And Roy Keane was also disappointed with another Tottenham player in the defeat, feeling he could have done more to protect his centre-backs, even if they were also at fault.

All in all, it’s clear that the upcoming north London derby is going to be a crucial one.

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Lucas Bergvall, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert have also strengthened the Tottenham squad but results have been a little mixed so far.

Tottenham were so up and down in the 1-1 draw against Leicester City before beating Everton 4-0 last weekend.

Postecoglou then watched his side dominate against Newcastle United on Sunday, only to lose 2-1 at St James’ Park.

Tottenham can’t just keep playing well and failing to win, leaving Spurs fans a little frustrated with the start to the season and the summer business.