Vertonghen: Spurs loss to Newcastle was a one-off

Scott Anderson
Jan Vertonghen: Believes Spurs can begin another run

Jan Vertonghen: Believes Spurs can begin another run

Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen believes their defeat against Newcastle at White Hart Lane was a one-off result and that they can “start another good run now”. 

Newcastle substitutes Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez scored late on to clinch a 2-1 win at White Hart Lane, after Eric Dier put Spurs ahead with a first-half header.

The defeat brings an end to a 14-match unbeaten run in the Premier League for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, and also meant they missed a chance to go fourth.

The loss was Spurs’s first in the league at White Hart Lane this season, and despite suffering a number of disappointing home defeats in previous seasons, Vertonghen believes the result is not typical of the current squad.

“You know you have to win these games if you want to stay in the top four,” said Vertonghen.

“It has been the story for us in the last couple of seasons but there is a difference in this team.

“We feel this is just an incident and in the last couple of years – that was a bit different.

“We can start another good run now. Of course we wanted to keep the run going. Hopefully we can win a couple now.”

Pochettino insisted he was not concerned by Tottenham’s performance despite a ringing of boos around the stadium at the full-time whistle.

But despite the loss only being Spurs’ second of the season, Vertonghen understood the fans’ dissatisfaction.

“It was just disappointment from the supporters. We were disappointed and they were as well. I can understand that,” he said.

“To lose a game like this is very painful. We felt very confident and it is hard to take.”

Vertonghen admits Tottenham must be more clinical, with the Newcastle match being the third time in five league matches that his side took the lead but failed to win.

“We were trying to go for that second goal but it was Newcastle who had the better chances,” Vertonghen said.

“We were running forward trying to force something and it gave Newcastle the space, with their pace, to create more chances.

“Especially in the first half, we had to finish it. We did not score the second goal and Newcastle had the quality on the bench to turn things around.

“In my opinion, it had nothing to do with experience. We were just in that vibe and wanted to win. We started very well.

“When you try to go forward, you know you can give chances away sometimes.”