Spurs were blasted away at St James’ Park, and their manager claims such defeats are part of the club’s evolution.
Ange Postecoglou described Newcastle United‘s 4-0 battering as a “painful part of Tottenham‘s growth”.
Spurs‘ biggest defeat under Postecoglou bore an unwelcome resemblance to last season’s 6-1 loss at St James’ Park, with the result nearly as lopsided.
It was a disappointing defeat for Tottenham, who now face a shootout with Aston Villa for fourth place in the Champions League next season.
“Newcastle were good; credit to them,” Postecoglou remarked later. “We really didn’t understand the game at all. We never truly wrestled control at any point, and we paid the price for it.
“We let them define how the game was played. We were not brave with the ball. “Much of it was self-inflicted.”
Tottenham will have two weeks without a match before facing league leaders Arsenal in the north London derby on April 28.
“It is not the first time we have suffered a crushing defeat, and it will not be the last. It’s part of our development. Sometimes that growth is unpleasant.
“I was anxious about it all. There was no single area that cost us today. We never reached any kind of tempo.”
The Spurs manager was questioned if the defeat could be justified in part by the previous season’s 6-1 setback in the same fixture.
“I think nine of ten of those will have played when we beat them 4-1, so I don’t know why one is more important” , he went on to say. “We haven’t played a game against them since. I would be quite astonished if that were the case. There are various possibilities for why we did not perform.
Pedro Porro was replaced with a suspected injury at 49 minutes, and Postecoglou explained: “He just felt something in the first half. He wanted to see how he performed in the second half. We’ll check with the medical team to determine what the problem is.”
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