The hope was that a break in Dubai would have the same effects as the trip to Saudi Arabia in February. But on the basis of what was on offer at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon, that doesn't look to be the case.
The return of club football brought a 5-1 drubbing in the capital where Newcastle made it so easy for their opponents with car crash defending and incredibly poor passing. No one in a Magpies shirt impressed during the defeat.
But when the players were looking to the touchline for answers, the usually unflappable Eddie Howe didn't seem to have any. Newcastle kept Chelsea at bay for 90 minutes a few weeks ago playing five at the back and sitting deep. This time around, Howe opted for a four-man defence against the front three of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Dejan Kulusevski.
Of course the manager wasn't helped by two quick-fire Tottenham goals just minutes into the second period. But some questionable formation changes did little to fix the issues. Five at the back was eventually the formation of choice during the second-half, with the likes of Javier Manquillo, Ryan Fraser, Jacob Murphy, Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar, Jonjo Shelvey, Dan Burn and Matt Targett all tasked with stopping the Spurs onslaught in defence at different stages.
Fraser was being used all over the shop, Allan Saint-Maximin, Chris Wood and Murphy all had stints on their own up top, while Shelvey was dropped deeper for the first time in a long while. Lascelles was brought on with 20 minutes to go, with eyebrows as to why it was Wood being taken off with the damage already done at 4-1. Out of favour forward Dwight Gayle looked as though he may get a run out after warming up intensely.
It all felt a little bit scatter gun at times, which probably comes with the territory when goals are being shipped left, right and centre in quick succession.
"In the future we might look back at this as a good thing for us - it might just realign our thoughts," Howe said after the game. It certainly feels like a 90 minutes that the Newcastle boss will use to do things differently in the future.
For the latest Newcastle news direct to your inbox, go here to sign up to our free newsletter
