Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou sent warning about daunting fixtures after humiliation at Newcastle

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has been warned his gung-ho footballing philosophy is in danger of wrecking the club’s Champions League hopes.

Spurs were humiliated in a 4-0 defeat at Newcastle on Saturday in a game where they were punished for their all-out attacking style.

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Postecoglou has been warned to re-think his attacking style ahead of a crucial run of fixtures for Tottenham’s Champions League questCredit: GettyIt was a proper drubbing at St James’ Park as the north London side’s defensive frailties were underlined again, and Stuart Pearce says they could be in for more heavy defeats with some huge games coming up.

Spurs face Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City in their next five fixtures – a key run of games in their quest to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Tottenham had the chance to consolidate their position in fourth place as they travelled to Tyneside to face a Newcastle side that has been out of sorts this season compared to last term.

But they were in for a rude awakening against Eddie Howe’s side, who stunned the visitors with a quickfire double in the first-half as Spurs refused to learn their lesson.

Read more on TottenhamTwice Micky van de Ven was punished for slips while backpeddling against Newcastle attackers – first Alexander Isak opening the scoring after a long ball forward as the hosts hit on the break.

Anthony Gordon then fired in the second while replays of the first goal were still being shown on the screen, with viewers only seeing the England winger shimmy past Van de Van before scoring.

It was here where Pearce sent Tottenham an early warning, saying: “We’ve seen this before where Spurs have conceded early and they’ve kept playing the same way. They have to change. If they keep playing like this they will continue to be punished.”

And punished they were, as the third goal, Isak’s second after the restart, was more of the same. 

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Tottenham’s high line was ruthlessly punished by Newcastle, with Isak scoring twiceCredit: Getty

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The 4-0 defeat at St James’ Park was a wake-up call for Spurs ahead of a gruelling run of fixtures against their ‘big six’ rivalsCredit: GettySpurs were caught on the break with one long pump forward, the Swede latching onto the ball and beating Vicario with a neat finish, before Fabian Schar completed the rout late on with a towering header from a corner.

Postecoglou has more than once had to defend his philosophy, with his Spurs side having the look of numerous teams in the past who were free scoring going forward but leaky at the back.

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What do these teams have in common? Think Brendan Rodgers’ ‘SAS’ Liverpool side – the ethos of ‘scoring more than your opponents’ works on paper, but history tells us it ultimately doesn’t work. You fall short of achieving your objectives.

And England legend Pearce, watching the game at St James’ for talkSPORT, admitted Tottenham will fall short of their top-four ambitions unless they shape up at the back – saying great teams are built on strong foundations.

“For a team where they are in the division, they conceded far too many chances in front of their goal, that’s the bottom line for me,” he said.

“If you’re a problem solver and someone said to you, ‘Come and have a look at Tottenham, tell me what you see and report back to the coaching staff’, you’d say you cannot sustain results by ceding so much room behind your back line.

“They’re also inept at dealing with corners into their box, in most of them the first contact was made by Newcastle players, and the amount of shots they had on their goal, you can’t win enough games to be in credit over a whole season. Newcastle had 18 shots on goal.

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It was a bad day at the office for Postecoglou and his and his team’s defensive issues were exposed”Every time Newcastle got the ball, tactically, every player knew what to do – turn it in behind and if you’re one of the front three, you run.

“For Isak’s second goal he was still a yard or two inside his own half when the ball was fired over, and he was already on the move. Tottenham had no chance of catching him.

“Before the game we talked about Tottenham’s fixtures coming up. If they defend like this against the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City there could be some more big scores waiting for them.”

And Pearce admits Postecoglou may have to rethink his approach if he’s serious about guiding Tottenham back to Europe’s top table.

“We’ve heard Ange before when people have criticised the back-line and the openness of his team, and he’s said, ‘This is my footballing philosophy, this is how I want to see my football team play’.

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It was a bad day at the office for Postecoglou and his and his team’s defensive issues were exposedCredit: talkSPORT“But Tottenham played that high line and Newcastle were just playing the balls in behind and breaching it time and time and time again.

“You’d think with Tottenham playing in the style that they do they would take the lead in games and would have something to hang onto, but they haven’t led a game in the first-half since February, a run of nine games – that tells you, more often than not, they’re the ones chasing.

Read More on talkSPORT“Listen, I’ve not got a vested interest in Tottenham Hotspur Football Club or their results, and I admire that mentality from a manager because they’re so good on the eye and they add to a brilliantly open game of football wherever they go.

“But Ange is in credit at the moment [with fans], and they’ll come a time maybe in the future where he’s not in credit and one or two people will vehemently start questioning it more.”