Ange Postecoglou has called the 4-0 thrashing by Newcastle United a “painful part of Tottenham’s growth”.
Spurs’s heaviest defeat under Postecoglou offered an unwanted nod to last season’s 6-1 defeat at St James’ Park, with the scoreline almost as one-sided.
It was a damaging result for a Tottenham side who find themselves in a straight shootout with Aston Villa for fourth spot in their quest for Champions League football next season.
“Newcastle were good, credit to them”, Postecoglou said afterwards. “We just didn’t really get a grip of the game at all. We never really wrestled control at any stage and we paid the price for that.
“We allowed them to dictate the way the game was played. We weren’t brave on the ball. A lot of it was self-inflicted.”
Tottenham have two weeks without a match now, before returning to action against league leaders Arsenal in the north London derby on April 28.
Asked how his players must respond, Postecoglou said: “It’s the same as every other game. There’s no point sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. We’ve got another game in two weeks’ time.
“It’s not the first time it [a heavy defeat] has happened to us; it won’t be the last. It’s part of our growth. Sometimes that growth is painful.
“I was concerned with all of it. There was no one area that cost us today. We never got to any sort of tempo.”
The Spurs manager was asked whether the defeat could be partly explained by the 6-1 loss in the same fixture last season.
“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 said. “We haven’t had a game against them since. I’d be very surprised if that’s the case. There are other explanations as to why we didn’t perform.“=
Pedro Porro was substituted with a suspected injury on 49 minutes, and Postecoglou revealed: “He just felt something in the first half. He wanted to see how he goes in the second half. We’ll check with the medical team and see what the issue is.”
