Giving Tottenham fans what they asked for after switching to a back four and putting an extra man in midfield against Newcastle United, it took Cristian Stellini all of 20 minutes to revert to the preferred three-man defence. The Italian's bold decision in terms of his team, which saw attacking wing-backs Pedro Porro and Ivan Perisic operating as full-backs, completely backfired as they shipped five goals in a remarkable start to proceedings on Tyneside.
Needing to remain strong at the back in the opening exchanges at St James' Park, Spurs conceded the opener with barely a minute on the clock as Jacob Murphy tapped home from close range. It was an onslaught after that as the hosts attacked at every opportunity and looked destined to score whenever they were within sight of goal.
Certainly helped by some shambolic play, with every Newcastle goal shocking to concede from a Tottenham perspective due to some incredibly suspect and half-heated defending, the game was completely over as a contest nine minutes in as the hosts raced into a three-goal lead. It was to get even worse with Alexander Isak netting a quickfire double ten minutes later.
READ MORE: Stellini reaction to Isak goal, Lloris sub explained - 5 things spotted in Newcastle v Tottenham
The Swede's first of the afternoon, which came courtesy of an incredible pass from Joe Willock, prompted Stellini into a formation change as he strayed on to the pitch to tell Oliver Skipp that the system was changing. Although they did concede moments later when Porro was operating as part of a back three, Spurs looked much better for reverting to a three-man defence, with Davinson Sanchez introduced on 29 minutes as Pape Matar Sarr, who was handed a rare start, was sacrificed.
As is usually the case when teams have a huge lead, Newcastle took their foot off the pedal and many fans will have left St James' Park believing that they should have scored more than six. Tottenham, who were all at sea and in complete disarray, were very much there for the taking and Eddie Howe's exciting Magpies side really could have gone for the jugular.
Amid the clamour for a back four, those 20 minutes on Sunday afternoon are extremely likely to be the only time Tottenham fans see a back four in what remains of the season. Not having the personnel to play the setup at present with Ben Davies just recovering from injury and Emerson Royal still on the sidelines, the decision to start attack-minded duo Porro and Perisic as wing-backs was extremely bold and, in the end, proved incredibly costly.
Speaking back in January, former boss Antonio Conte was pressed on a potential formation change amid plenty of questions about his setup of choice. Explaining that the formation is "the best solution to exploit the characteristics of the players," he did mention that if he did change in the future and the team did lose, he would be fully justified.
Asked by Standard Sport if there were any circumstances in which he would consider a different formation, he explained: "It could happen, but the system depends a lot on the characteristics of the players, especially the defenders. To play four at the back, you need defenders with specific characteristics.
"Also, the most important area for us is the strikers. In this squad, I have to create a situation to support Sonny [Heung-min Son], [Harry] Kane and [Dejan] Kulusevski or Richarlison."
On getting his four attacking players in the team at the same time, he added: "Maybe we'll try to find a solution to put the best players on the pitch, but when you do that, you don't have possibilities to change the game on the bench.
"In my career, I've played with a [back] four and won two championships with a 4-2-4 at Juventus. In Chelsea, I started with a 4-2-3-1 and then changed, because the characteristics of the players was not so good to play a back four.
"When I arrived at Tottenham, I found this solution for the characteristics of the players. In my opinion, this is the best solution to exploit the characteristics of the players. In the future, probably we can try to change. But if we lose, I'm justified!"
Whereas Conte wouldn't have strayed from his formation of choice, with the last time Tottenham had operated with a four-man defence back in January 2022 against Chelsea, Stellini went his own way and his fellow countryman's words immediately came back to haunt him. After the recent draw against Everton and 3-2 defeat against Bournemouth last time out, Spurs' acting head coach knew that he needed to change things up, both in terms of refreshing his team and also in giving supporters something positive after the recent lows.
In the end it proved a disastrous move, although in fairness Newcastle would still have put their opponents to the sword had they stuck to their usual formation for the game on Tyneside. It will very much be a case of going back to basics when Tottenham return to action on Thursday evening when Manchester United visit N17.
After their unforgettable collapse on Tyneside, a reaction is needed or else their pivotal week will only lurch from one disaster to another.
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