Tottenham's £320m Reboot Under Scrutiny After Defeats

Tottenham’s £320m reboot is already under scrutiny. Two games, two defeats, no goals – and this time they were beaten on their own pitch by a Newcastle side reborn under Matthias Jaissle.

Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa, two of last season’s great frustrations, struck in a ruthless second-half display to seal a 2-0 win and hand Roberto De Zerbi another bruising afternoon. The boos at full-time told their own story.

Spurs spend big, deliver little

Tottenham’s summer outlay – £320m on eight new signings – was supposed to launch a new era. Instead, De Zerbi’s team look disjointed and blunt. A week after being thrashed 3-0 at Brentford, they again dominated long spells without landing a punch.

Omar Marmoush was thrown in for his Premier League debut, leading the line in front of an expectant home crowd. The build-up play was neat, the pressure sustained, but the cutting edge was nowhere.

Savio, the £75m winger earmarked as a key part of De Zerbi’s attacking plan, watched on with “muscle fatigue”. Sandro Tonali, meanwhile, faced his former club for the first time since his £100m move from Newcastle – and heard the mockery from the away end as they celebrated their first league win under Jaissle.

De Zerbi tried to stay calm.

“We are not a team yet,” he told Sky Sports. “Forget the result, but I'm not angry. We are working well. We were unlucky today, especially with the result.”

The crowd did not sound quite so patient.

Hornicek stands firm as Spurs waste their moment

For an hour, this felt like a match Tottenham should control. They did, up to a point.

On 15 minutes, Mathys Tel curled a lovely effort towards the far corner, only for Lucas Hornicek to spring to his left and claw it away. Two minutes later, Pedro Porro looked certain to score from close range until Lewis Hall hurled himself in front of the shot.

Jan Paul van Hecke then rose highest from a Fernandes corner on 38 minutes, his header powerful and on target. Again, Hornicek reacted sharply to keep Newcastle level.

Tottenham’s shouts grew louder right after the break. Marmoush beat Malick Thiaw to the ball in the area and went down under contact. Referee Peter Bankes waved away the penalty appeals, and VAR backed the on-field decision. The home crowd erupted in fury; the players’ shoulders seemed to tighten.

That was the moment the game began to tilt.

Elanga strikes as Newcastle’s belief surges

Newcastle had barely threatened, but Jaissle’s side never panicked. They stayed compact, waited for space, trusted that one chance would come.

On 62 minutes, it did.

Nico Gonzalez, handed his debut in midfield, picked his head up and drilled a long diagonal ball forward. Right-back Amar Dedic met it and smartly nodded down into the box. Elanga, who has looked like a different player under Jaissle after struggling last season, took over.

One touch, a swivel, and a low shot on the turn that kissed the inside of the left post before rolling in.

The away end exploded. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium groaned. All that first-half promise, undone in a flash.

De Zerbi threw on three substitutes in response, chasing energy and ideas. None of them changed the mood. Newcastle suddenly looked the calmer, more cohesive side.

Wissa finishes the job

Just as Spurs’ belief began to seep away, Newcastle killed them.

On 72 minutes, a corner was swung in and substitute Nick Woltemade attacked it, steering a header into the six-yard box. Wissa, back to goal, reacted first. One instinctive hook over his head and the ball dropped into the net.

2-0. Clinical. Brutal.

Wissa, like Elanga, had flattered to deceive under Eddie Howe. Under Jaissle, he looks liberated. So does the whole front line. The away fans bounced and sang about Europe, half in jest, half with a hint of “why not?”

By the time Peter Bankes blew for full-time, large pockets of home supporters had already streamed out. Those who stayed made their feelings clear as the players trudged off to a chorus of boos.

Leadership questions and a new Newcastle

Jamie Redknapp, watching on Saturday Night Football, did not spare Spurs’ senior figures.

“There are going to be teething problems,” he said of the influx of new signings. “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.

“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.”

Newcastle, by contrast, looked like a team already pulling in the same direction.

“It was incredible and I'm really proud,” Jaissle 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.”

At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Sky Sports’ David Richardson summed up the transformation in two of Jaissle’s key men.

“In Elanga and Wissa, it's like two new players!” came Jamie Carragher’s verdict. Signed for a combined £110m last summer, they are finally playing like it.

Gonzalez, too, slotted in seamlessly, his debut capped by the assist for Elanga’s opener. A club braced for a season of struggle after a difficult window suddenly looks bolder, braver, more ambitious.

Their supporters left north London singing about Europe. The tone might have been playful, but the optimism was real.

Tottenham’s fans left asking a different question: after all that spending, how long will it take before this expensively assembled side starts to look like a team?