At the time, it was easy to ascribe the collapse in Tottenham's league form at the end of last season to the stresses of the Champions League: they took just 11 points from their last available 36 as Europe became their priority and monopolised their emotional and physical energy.
Now though, it's equally easy to think that run was the start of a more serious problem, and rather than being the cause of their listlesness, the run to the Champions League final simply masked their deficiencies. The defeat to Newcastle on Sunday was Tottenham's third unconvincing performance of the season: in the first they eventually salvaged a win against Aston Villa, in the second they somehow escaped with a draw against Manchester City, but in the third they couldn't break down a team who had been battered by newly-promoted Norwich last week.