Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou speaks to the media after their 4-0 loss to Newcastle in the Premier League at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon
Postecoglou on why his team was so vulnerable on the break
We allowed them to dictate the way the game was played, ended up being a transition game, a lot of it was self-inflicted by us, we weren’t brave on the ball, we’ve been really good this year at understanding that when we have the ball we can be a threat, certain players, we just shied away from that today. When you do that you allow the game to be played on Newcastle’s terms. When that happens especially away from home it’s hard for us to then claw it back once it’s got away from us
More from the Spurs boss
There’s no point sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. There’s another game in two weeks. We’ve just got to get ready for that. It’s not the first time it’s happened to us and it won’t be the last. It’s part of our growth. Sometimes that growth is painful. That’s part of it and you’ve just got to embrace it, use it and get ready for the next challenge
Postecoglou is here
Newcastle were good, credit to them, I thought they were really good today. We just didn’t really get a grip of the game at all. Right from the start it felt like we allowed Newcastle to dictate the way the game was played, we never really wrestled control at any stage. We paid a price for that.
Postecoglou made one change to face Eddie Howe’s side from the lunchtime clash with Rodrigo Bentancur replacing Pape Matar Sarr after the Uruguayan impressed in the second half of the 3- 1 for Tottenham against Nottingham Forest last weekend
Spurs have the chance to put pressure on Aston Villa if they get a positive result at St James’ Park on Saturday, when Unai Emery’s side travel to Arsenal on Sunday
However, to do this, the north London team tried to succeed after a poor performance against Tottenham last season
Almost 12 months ago, under the guidance of Cristian Stellini, they collapsed to a miserable 6-1 defeat, with Newcastle scoring three goals in the first nine minutes and five in 21 minutes
Under the leadership of Postecoglou, Spurs took revenge this season with a 4-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
This time the visitors had a few chances early on, but completely blew things up midway through the first half to score Newcastle twice in two minutes
Newcastle increased the score to 3-0 at the break thanks to Bruno Guimaraes’s overhand pass into the path of Isak into the home team’s net
The fourth goal came for Newcastle late in the match
They threatened to score from a free-kick and they did so when Fabian Schar jumped highest to head home
Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those to question Postecoglou after the match
Scroll down to see his latest update from the press conference at St James’ Park
Tottenham had a memorable day against Newcastle United as the North London club suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat
For the second year in a row, Tottenham were defeated by Newcastle United
Last season, the Magpies scored six goals against Spurs
That season they defeated them by scoring 4 goals and moved up to 6th place in the Premier League
Micky van de Ven was criticized on social media for his performance against Newcastle
The defender was brought down by both Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon on his way to score
Shearer blames Tottenham duo for Newcastle goal But Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has blamed two other Tottenham players
Shearer named Destiny Udogui and Pedro Polo, who he believes were the ones who scored for Eddie Howe’s men
Polo, who was forced to be substituted early in the second half due to injury, had “no idea” where Isak was when he scored his first goal, said Shearer, who spoke to Premier League Productions
Shearer said Udogi did not have enough strength as the ball was played over the top to Gordon who assisted Isak
“Udogi is terrible and not strong
Polo has no idea where Isaac is and defeats Van de Ven
That’s a great ending
“From Tottenham’s point of view, how poor they are
How weak they defend
Tottenham were overtaken by Aston Villa
” This defeat leaves Spurs fifth in the Premier League
Aston Villa, who defeated Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, moved up to fourth place
The battle to qualify for Europe in the Premier League is becoming fiercer every week, with Newcastle also in contention to qualify for next season’s Europa League
Spurs will have a crucial game in the Premier League against Arsenal later this month in the race for the title
First Destiny Udogie was dispossessed by Anthony Gordon and the England international played in Alexander Isak to rifle home a low shot. Then not long after the restart, Pedro Porro sliced a clearance back into the Spurs penalty area and it flew straight to Gordon to score.
