Tottenham’s £320m Reboot Under Scrutiny After Defeat to Newcastle
Tottenham’s £320m reboot is already under scrutiny. Two games, two defeats, no goals – and this time they were turned over on their own pitch by a Newcastle side reborn under Matthias Jaissle.
Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa, written off by many after underwhelming first seasons, ripped up the script with two sharp second-half finishes in a 2-0 win that felt far more controlled than the scoreline suggests. By the final whistle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, plenty of home fans had gone. Those who stayed made their feelings clear. Spurs were booed off.
Big spend, blunt edge
This was supposed to be the afternoon Tottenham’s summer splurge started to make sense. Eight new signings, £320m outlaid, a debut for forward Omar Marmoush, and the first chance for home supporters to see Roberto De Zerbi’s new era up close in the league.
What they got instead was a familiar frustration: possession, territory, half-chances – but no incision.
For 60 minutes, though, De Zerbi had a point. Spurs did play the better football. They pressed with intent, worked the ball into dangerous areas and forced Newcastle goalkeeper Lucas Hornicek into action.
On 15 minutes, Mathys Tel cut inside and whipped a curling effort towards the top corner, only for Hornicek to spring left and claw it away. Two minutes later, Pedro Porro looked certain to score from close range until Lewis Hall hurled himself into a block that felt as valuable as a goal.
Jan Paul van Hecke went close before the break, rising to meet an in-swinging corner from Fernandes on 38 minutes. Again Hornicek stood tall, beating the header away and keeping Newcastle level at the interval.
The pattern was clear: Spurs on the front foot, Newcastle disciplined and dangerous on the break, their belief growing with every escape.
Penalty shout, momentum shift
Tottenham thought they had their moment just after half-time. Marmoush nipped in front of Malick Thiaw in the box and was caught by the centre-back. The contact looked obvious. The appeals were loud.
Referee Peter Bankes waved them away. VAR backed the on-field call. The stadium bristled.
De Zerbi’s side never quite recovered their composure. The tempo dipped. The passing lost its snap. Newcastle, who had spent the first hour largely absorbing pressure, began to sense something more.
The pressure finally told on 62 minutes – and it was Elanga, again, who changed the game.
Nico Gonzalez, making his debut in midfield, clipped a long, diagonal pass forward. Right-back Amar Dedic climbed to nod it down into the area. Elanga, back to goal, spun sharply and drilled a shot on the turn. It kissed the inside of the left post and dropped in.
From struggling last season to scoring against Liverpool one weekend and Tottenham the next, the 22-year-old suddenly looks like the player Newcastle thought they had signed.
De Zerbi threw on three substitutes in response, chasing a spark. It never came.
Wissa’s flourish seals it
Just as Spurs’ belief drained away, Newcastle’s grew. Jaissle’s side started to win second balls, to push higher, to play with the freedom their new coach has preached.
On 72 minutes, they killed the contest.
A corner was swung into the box and substitute Nick Woltemade rose to nod it back into the six-yard area. Wissa, back to goal, improvised brilliantly. He hooked the ball over his head, looping it beyond the stranded defence and into the net.
A player who had laboured under Eddie Howe suddenly looked liberated, his confidence restored. Newcastle’s bench exploded. Spurs’ players stared at the turf.
There was no late surge from the home side, no grandstand finish. Just a flat, resigned atmosphere and a slow drift towards the exits.
De Zerbi: ‘We are not a team yet’
After the game, De Zerbi cut a calm but pointed figure.
“For 60-65 minutes we played better than Newcastle. We had a chance to score but we didn’t. After they scored, we lost distances,” he told Sky Sports.
“We had more chances and shot more on goal. We are not a team yet. We have to improve a few things.
“Forget the result, but I’m not angry. We are working well. We were unlucky today, especially with the result.”
The numbers and the eye test will not fully comfort him. Two league games, no goals, and a side that lost its structure the moment it went behind.
‘Spurs lacked leaders’
In the Sky Sports studio, Jamie Redknapp focused on character as much as tactics.
“There’s a lot of new players at Spurs and it’s going to take time,” he said. “The manager has got a jigsaw puzzle and he’s got to figure out how to fit the players in, what system to use, who the best three players are in midfield.
“There are going to be teething problems.
“I also look at the senior players and players like Van de Ven didn’t do enough to lead today and certainly with the goals.
“Players who have been there for a long time can do better.”
The criticism will sting. Spurs have invested heavily not just in talent but in supposed leaders. Right now, they look short of both.
Jaissle’s Newcastle take shape
On the away bench, the mood could hardly have been more different. Matthias Jaissle, only two games into his Premier League tenure, watched his side execute a clear plan with a maturity that belied their recent turbulence.
“It was incredible and I’m really proud,” he told Sky Sports. “We are really proud as a club, as a coaching staff to see a team on the pitch delivering the match plan at a high level already, but also seeing players fully committed to what we’re doing.
This is a good start and a moment to enjoy.”
It is not just the result that will excite Newcastle fans. It is who is delivering it.
Elanga and Wissa, signed for £110m last summer and so often peripheral under Howe, now look central to Jaissle’s vision. Gonzalez slotted in on debut and provided the assist for the opener. The back line, marshalled by Hornicek’s assured display, held firm under sustained pressure.
“At last, it’s like two new players,” Jamie Carragher said of Elanga and Wissa. For once, the cliché fits.
For all the pre-season talk of a season of struggle after a difficult window, Newcastle’s supporters left north London singing about Europe. The chants were laced with humour, but also with something else: belief that this side, playing with freedom and togetherness, might just be capable of more than survival.
Spurs searching for a spark
Around them, Tottenham are still trying to work out what they are. De Zerbi insists they are “working well”, that the performance for an hour showed promise, that the result can be parked.
The crowd’s verdict was harsher. Booed off after a 3-0 defeat at Brentford, booed off again here, they have seen enough false dawns to recognise the early warning signs.
A £75m winger in Savio already sidelined with “muscle fatigue”. A £100m midfielder in Sandro Tonali taunted by his former Newcastle fans. A big-spending squad still playing like strangers when it matters most.
Spurs say they are not a team yet. The question now is how long this club, and this crowd, are prepared to wait.
