Spurs star James Maddison admitted that sloppiness cost his side dearly against Newcastle United as Micky van de Ven endured a torrid Saturday afternoon at St James’ Park.
Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon scored in quick succession to put the Magpies two up after 32 minutes.
The hosts put the contest beyond doubt in the second half as Isak got his second of the day before centre-back Fabian Schar completed the rout with his side’s fourth without reply.
“Just a really bad day,” Maddison told TNT Sports. “We conceded the first goal and when you conceded a second so quickly after at a place like this, from the kick-off we sloppily went back to the keeper knowing they’re going to press. You find yourself 2-0 down and give yourself a mountain to climb.”
The England midfielder felt Tottenham lacked courage on the ball as they struggled to deal with Newcastle’s man-for-man approach to the game.
“I felt at 0-0 out there there were some chances for us, spaces to play,” he said. “We just weren’t brave enough I think with the ball – too many safe passes, too many safe options, not enough courage to try and play a riskier pass.
“It was all a bit safe which I think cost us at 0-0. When you concede two so quickly it’s sloppy little details that cost us.”
Destiny Udogie was robbed of possession by Gordon for the opener before Isak sat down van de Ven and fired the ball past Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs followed up that mistake with another calamity as Pedro Porro’s back pass to the goalkeeper was intercepted by Gordon, who turned the Dutch defender inside out to double their lead.
“It’s one of those, you’ve got to get the balance right,” Maddison said. “You know if you make an error that costs a goal, you’re the one to hold your hands up.
“We struggled to bounce back from anything. This season we’ve been good after conceding but today that wasn’t the case.”
