Stellini looks out of ideas after Spurs' humiliating loss to Newcastle

Daniel Levy refused to rock the boat after sacking Antonio Conte, but keeping his staff in the Tottenham dugout has completely backfired… their Newcastle humiliation exposed every flaw and Cristian Stellini is already out of ideas

• Antonio Conte was replaced by his assistant Cristian Stellini after leaving Spurs
• Spurs have struggled since and were thrashed 6-1 by Newcastle on Sunday
• Stellini looks out of ideas, leaving Daniel Levy with a big decision to make 

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy’s decision to place Cristian Stellini in interim charge after sacking Antonio Conte looked like a strange one at the time. It’s a call that hasn’t aged well after the club hit a new low on Sunday.

Spurs’ 6-1 humiliation at the hands of Newcastle was labelled ‘very embarrassing’ by their captain Hugo Lloris afterwards and it could have been even worse.

Lloris came off injured at the break, and Tottenham did manage to draw the second half 1-1, but all the damage had been done in the first 21 minutes of the match.

Stellini plumped for a 4-3-3 formation for the first time this season, a system that many Spurs fans have been calling for to give the team greater presence in midfield.

But moving to it for such a huge game with a top four place at stake always looked like a massive gamble. Could Pedro Porro really cope with Joe Willock and Joelinton down Tottenham’s right? Would a 34-year-old Ivan Perisic be able to keep the in-form Jacob Murphy at bay? Within two minutes, we had our answer.

Antonio Conte was sacked by Tottenham last month after his outburst at Southampton

His assistant Cristian Stellini was placed in interim charge until the end of the season

Tottenham’s form has only got worse since the appointment, and they were thrashed 6-1 by Newcastle on Sunday

Joelinton breezed past Porro as Newcastle mounted their first attack, and when his shot was parried out by Lloris, Murphy was first on the scene, with Perisic in no man’s land, to tap home the rebound. 

Spurs never recovered from that early blow, with Murphy scoring again, Joelinton finding the net and Alexander Isak bagging a brace before substitute Callum Wilson completed the rout.

Tottenham’s defence were pulled from pillar to post, and their midfield could not match Newcastle’s intensity despite Stellini opting for an extra player in the middle of the park. 

Halfway through the first half he gave up on his back four experiment and returned to the familiar back three.

TOTTENHAM RESULTS UNDER STELLINI

April 3: Everton 1-1 Tottenham

April 8: Tottenham 2-1 Brighton

April 15: Tottenham 2-3 Bournemouth

April 23: Newcastle 6-1 Tottenham 

Off came Pape Matar Sarr and on went Davinson Sanchez. The same Davinson Sanchez who had been booed by his own fans a week earlier. Now he was entering the fray at 5-0 down with over an hour to go. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.

Stellini took full responsibility for his side’s performance afterwards, admitting that changing shape had not worked, but they didn’t look much better when they switched to a back three either.

The 48-year-old now looks to be completely out of ideas just four games into his short-term reign.

The warning signs were there in his opening match when Tottenham inexplicably opted to sit back on a one-goal lead against an Everton side reduced to 10 men, resulting in Stellini’s men conceding a late equaliser.

There were small shoots of recovery in their next outing at home to Brighton as Spurs picked up a 2-1 win but that was highly controversial. The Seagulls had two goals harshly disallowed for handball and multiple penalty appeals waved away in a highly-charged game that they really shouldn’t have lost.

Having ridden their luck in that game, Spurs had no such fortune the following week as they were beaten at home by Bournemouth. 

They have taken just four points from four matches since Conte departed, with performances getting gradually worse culminating in Sunday’s dismal display at St James’ Park.

The numbers since Stellini took over demonstrate how Spurs are in freefall. According to Stats Perform, the team have conceded twice as many goals per game when compared with Conte, and are facing more shots on their goal.

From an attacking perspective, they are scoring fewer goals, having fewer shots on target and completing less successful passes per match than under Conte. 

The most important number is the points tally – it was 1.8 per game with Conte in charge, and has dropped to 1 since Stellini replaced him. 

Tottenham’s top-four hopes have now gone up in smoke. They are six points behind Newcastle who have a game in hand, and Sunday’s match highlighted the gap between the two teams right now. 

Spurs look a broken team, and with Manchester United and Liverpool to come over the next six days it is hard to see where their next points are going to come from. 

Missing out on Europe’s elite club competition will only push Harry Kane nearer to the exit door. Spare a penny for his thoughts as he watched the horror show unfold behind him on Sunday afternoon.

As he has done time and again this season, Kane showed his quality by scoring a fine solo effort in the second half, his 24th league goal of the season.

But the lack of help from his team-mates has been alarming, and he must surely be wondering if he deserves better.

With United circling, Kane may decide a summer move to Old Trafford is best for him in his pursuit of silverware and the all-time Premier League goalscoring record.

Harry Kane must be considering his future after Tottenham’s latest humiliation on Sunday

Daniel Levy must now decide whether to sack Stellini before the end of the season

Stellini’s appointment was supposed to ensure that the boat wasn’t rocked too much once Conte left. Conte’s staff largely consisted of Italian-speaking coaches, and Levy wanted to avoid making drastic changes at a critical point in the season.

A month later, that decision has backfired spectacularly. Spurs have drifted out of Champions League contention, their best player looks set to move on and Stellini cannot figure out how to turn their fortunes around.

His future is now reportedly in serious doubt, with Ryan Mason in contention to replace him, while former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has even thrown his hat into the ring to return on a short-term basis.

Levy had the chance to make a clean break from Conte and his staff last month and failed to take it. Correcting that mistake now looks like the best course of action for all parties to prevent things getting even uglier at Spurs in the final weeks of the campaign. 

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