The January signing who played his ‘worst game’ for Newcastle United against Tottenham Hotspur

After a run of nine games unbeaten lifted Newcastle United out of the Premier League relegation zone, three consecutive defeats have provided a big reality check.

While there might have been for Chelsea and Everton, there were simply no excuses for the Magpies’ 5-1 hammering at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

Here, Jordan Cronin takes a look at five key talking points from United’s miserable - and final - visit to the capital this season:

Defensive implosion - Dan Burn & Matt Targett exposed

This was a true defensive horror show, one Newcastle had witnessed countless times under Steve Bruce but not Howe.

After conceding four to Leicester City and Manchester City in December, Howe solidifying of the defence has been a key component in the surge away from the drop zone.

But at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, that went horribly out the window as United imploded in the second-half. In the opening nine minutes, the game was over.

Newcastle were sliced over 10x over in all areas, while the left-hand side of Dan Burn and Matt Targett, in particular, was woefully unbalanced.

Burn, left so exposed by Targett, whose whereabouts was often unknown, was given a right around, helplessly chasing white shirts - mostly Dejan Kulusevski - that he was never going to catch.

It goes without saying this was Targett’s worst display since his loan move from Aston Villa in January but that isn’t to single him out. As a team, Newcastle were shambolic.

Indeed, the five goals conceded at the Spurs was the first time United have conceded more than one goal in a game since that City game 105 days ago.

Howe will pray this is merely a blip and that a defence, who conceded 80 goals in the year 2021, remains a thing of the past.

The good and bad of Fabian Schar

Schar, who has missed just one game since Howe was appointed head coach in November, has undoubtedly played his way into a new contract on Tyneside.

That shouldn’t change after the defeat at Tottenham but his performance was a flashback to when supporters were questioning if the Switzerland international could play in a back four under Bruce.

Schar is a unique footballer. His ability on the ball is unrivalled among his central defensive teammates. He’s also a cool penalty taker - and clearly a threat from free-kicks after he opened the scoring in North London.

Interestingly, that United’s fourth direct free-kick converted this year. Overall, seven of Newcastle’s last 11 goals have come from set-piece situations.

But back to Schar. The 30-year-old sometimes has a tendency to become sloppy in possession and that was starkly on show - mistakenly playing a pass directly to Kulusevski in the build-up to Doherty’s goal.

Eddie Howe gets his substitutions wrong

Having had 16 days to prepare for Spurs, which included a warm-weather training camp in Dubai, it wouldn’t be unfair to have expected a lot more from Newcastle.

OK, so for 40 minutes, the Magpies frustrated Antonio Conte’s side but that does not excuse losing total control. All discipline and organisation went rapidly out the window.

As Spurs raced into a 3-1 lead before the clock hit 55 minutes, Howe responded with the double introduction of Guimaraes and Jacob Murphy in place of Joelinton, on a yellow card, and Javier Manquillo.

It was Howe’s attempt to try and regain some control but it did nothing of sort, arguably causing confusion more than anything else.

A formation change to 5-3-2 saw Jonjo Shelvey drop into a three-man defence for 10 minutes or so before central defender Jamaal Lascelles replaced striker Chris Wood.

Newcastle finished the game with Allan Saint-Maximin and Jacob Murphy as strikers and Ryan Fraser at right-back, who played Bergwijn onside for Spurs’ fifth striker of the afternoon.

It was a case of square pegs in round holes as Howe’s efforts fell flat.

Better from Allan Saint-Maximin?

Saint-Maximin did a lot of talking on social media in the build-up to Spurs, vowing to prove his critics wrong after two underwhelming substitute appearances at Chelsea and Everton.

On Instagram, he posted: “People forget quickly, but I know what to do to restore their memory”. So, did the Frenchman achieve that in North London?

While there is no doubting the willingness was there from the 25-year-old, the winger didn’t quite have the desired impact. That’s no surprise, given how the second-half played out.

Yet the same questions emerged after full-time, does he fit into Howe’s system that served the United so well from mid-February to March?

It’s a question Saint-Maximin still has to answer ahead of three consecutive home games, but this isn’t the time to pile in with criticism. For all he has done for the football, he warrants a bit of patience after a stop-start couple of month with injury and illness.

Perhaps he would benefit from playing down the middle but that would mean Howe dropping Chris Wood, and that’s incredibly unlikely.

That said, it’s not all doom & gloom

For all the negativity written above - quite fairly after a woeful result - it’s not all doom and gloom at Newcastle United.

Despite losing three off the belt, the Magpies’ advantage over the bottom three has dropped from 10 points to just nine. That in itself shows the almighty task facing the teams below them to catch United.

Burnley, for example, have won three games all season. They’d need that plus a draw just to go level with Newcastle from their remaining 10 games.

After four fixtures on the road, Newcastle return to St James’ Park, where they’ve lost just once under Howe, for the first time since March 5 with Wolves, Leicester City and Crystal Palace all to play in succession.

Newcastle, essentially, could all but seal safety (unofficially, of course) with four points from those fixtures. Two wins, you’d think, would definitely guarantee it.

Survival is still within touching distance. That said, it’s imperative Howe’s side react in front of the home fans this month to avoid any unnecessary late panic.