Tottenhan and Ange Postecoglou sent a warning to the top four before the crisis after the humiliation in Newcastle

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has been warned that his gung-ho football philosophy risks ruining the club's Champions League hopes.

The spurs were humiliated in 4-0 defeat at Newcastle Saturday in a game in which they were punished for their all-out attacking style.

It was a real drubbing at St James' Park as the north London side's defensive weaknesses were once again underlined and Stuart Pearce says they could suffer tougher defeats in the next big games.

Spurs face Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City in their next five games, a series of key matches in their quest to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Tottenham had the opportunity to consolidate their position in fourth place as they traveled to Tyneside to face a Newcastle team that has been in a bad mood this season compared to last.

But they were in for a rude awakening against Eddie Howe's team, who surprised the visitors with a quick double in the first half when the Spurs refused to learn their lesson.

Micky van de Ven was twice penalized for slipping while backtracking against the Newcastle attackers: first, Alexander Isak opened the scoring after a long ball forward as the home team took advantage of the counterattack.

Anthony Gordon then fired in the second while replays of the first goal were still shown on the screen, and spectators only saw the England winger run past Van de Van before scoring.

It was here that Pearce sent an early warning to Tottenham, saying: “We've seen this before, where Spurs have conceded early and kept playing the same way. They have to change. If they keep playing like that, they'll keep playing.” be punished.”

And they were punished, since the third goal, Isak's second after the restart, was more of the same.

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Spurs were caught on the counter-attack with a long shot forward, the Swede latched onto the ball and beat Vicario with an elegant finish, before Fabian Schar completed the late rout with a stunning header from a corner.

Postecoglou has had to defend his philosophy more than once, as his Spurs looked like numerous teams in the past that scored freely on offense but leaked on defense.

What do these teams have in common? Think Brendan Rodgers' 'SAS' Liverpool Side: The “outscore your opponents” ethos works on paper, but history tells us that it ultimately doesn't work. You fail to achieve your goals.

And England legend Pearce, who watched the game at St James' for talkSPORT, admitted Tottenham will not achieve their top-four ambitions unless they strengthen at the back, saying great teams are built on solid foundations.

“For a team that is in the division, they gave up too many chances in front of their goal, that's the most important thing for me,” he said.

“If you are a problem solver and someone says to you: 'Come and have a look at Tottenham, tell me what you see and report back to the coaching staff', you would say that you can't maintain results by giving up so much space behind your backline.

“They are also inept at dealing with corners inside their area, in most of them the first contact was made by the Newcastle players, and because of the amount of shots they had on their goal, they can't win enough games To be credited, an entire season, Newcastle had 18 shots on goal.

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“Every time Newcastle got the ball, tactically, every player knew what to do: turn it back and, if you're one of the front three, run.

“On Isak's second goal, he was still a meter or two inside his own half when the ball was deflected and was already in motion. Tottenham had no chance of catching it.

“Before the game we talked about Tottenham's upcoming games. “If they defend like this against teams like Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City, there could be more important goals waiting for them.”

And Pearce admits Postecoglou might have to rethink his approach if he is serious about guiding Tottenham back to the top of Europe.

“We've heard Ange before when people criticized his team's defensive line and opening, and he said: 'This is my football philosophy, this is how I want to see my football team play.'

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“But Tottenham played that high line and Newcastle just played the balls behind and broke it again and again.

“You would think that with Tottenham playing with the style they have they would take the lead in games and have something to hold on to, but they haven't led a game in the first half since February, a run of nine games. – That tells you that, most of the time, they are the ones doing the chasing.

“Listen, I have no personal interest in Tottenham Hotspur Football Club or their results, and I admire that mentality of a manager because they are very good to look at and contribute to a brilliantly open game of football wherever they go.

“But Ange is in credit right now (with fans), and there will come a time maybe in the future when she's not in credit and one or two people will start to question it more vehemently.”