Jermaine Jenas believes Tottenham "haven't been anywhere near their standards" so far this season after Spurs lost out 1-0 at home against Newcastle United this afternoon (Sunday).
Mauricio Pochettino's men struggled to break down a resolute Newcastle side at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the Magpies claimed their first win of the new season, while in the process inflicting a first defeat on Spurs in the top flight this season.
Joelinton's first half strike proved to be the difference between the two sides, with Newcastle's club record signing netting the only goal of the game after a mistake from Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez.
Jenas was critical of Sanchez over his role in the goal, but the former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder was also critical of Spurs in general over their level of performance so far this season, amid continued speculation over the future of Spurs star Christian Eriksen, who came off the bench in the 1-0 defeat this afternoon (Sunday).
“The players they have on the pitch are more than capable of delivering a performance to fill the void left by Christian Eriksen," Jenas said, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“He [Eriksen] just finds pockets of space and he has that ability to pick that pass. It goes a long way to helping Tottenham. He is that creative element that I feel they are lacking on the field.
“But I don’t think any of the Spurs top four have been up to standard here."
And although Jenas said in commentary that Eriksen and fellow substitute Giovani Lo Celso "lifted the quality" when they came off the bench, he said it was not enough to lift the team's performance as a whole.
“Eriksen has made this 100 per cent better, him and Lo Celso have lifted the quality," he said.
“Harry Kane has been poor. He was for large periods against Villa, and then popped up with a couple of goals. If you give him a chance he has that quality.”
"But Spurs haven’t been anywhere near their standards, other than a half an hour spell against Villa.
"They were fortunate to get something against City, and they have been poor. They haven’t shown the sharpness they need to, or the quality, and in my opinion, Newcastle have been the better team.”
