Jamie Carragher branded Tottenham trio Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Matar Sarr a ‘disgrace’ for their performances in their side’s thrashing at Liverpool.
Spurs travelled to Anfield for the second leg of their Carabao Cup clash, carrying a one-goal lead from the first leg. But it proved to be a disastrous night for Ange Postecoglou’s men, who were hammered 4-0.
As well as having just 36 percent of the possession, Spurs failed to register a single shot on target. It was a humiliating night for the North Londoners, whose trophy drought will now extend past the 17-year mile post.
And Carragher believes that their dreadful performance can be pinned on the midfield trio of Bissouma, Bentancur and Sarr. Two of them would be substituted before the hour mark, with Carragher pulling no punches in his assessment of their display.
“When I looked at those three midfield players today, I thought they were a disgrace, those Tottenham midfield players,” Carragher told Sky Sports. You’re playing a semi-final. [For the] first 15 minutes, half an hour, Liverpool will be on the ball, put you under pressure.
“But get after them, be aggressive. Maybe forget the ball the first half an hour, but be aggressive, even if you’re camped in your own half. It was still so easy for Liverpool to get to the edge of the box. Those midfield players didn’t even put a challenge in. It was shocking.
“I think of a cup tie Liverpool played at home a few weeks ago in the FA Cup. Liverpool didn’t play their best team, but I think Accrington Stanley gave more than Tottenham tonight and gave Liverpool more of a problem. That’s not right.”
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While he didn’t name names, Spurs boss Postecoglou also failed to hide his disappointment with his side. He blasted them for ‘shying away’ from the challenge Liverpool presented and admitted the hosts had been ‘far better’.
“Tough night. Credit to Liverpool. Never really got to grips with the game. I think both the first two goals we could have done better with. But what’s really important is we didn’t play to our strengths today,” the Australian told ITV Sport.
“We shied away from the challenge. We allowed Liverpool to get into the rhythm. We’ve still got competitions to play for and we have to make sure that with all the opportunities we have we tackle them our way.”
He added to Sky Sports: “I guess that Liverpool deserved the victory. They were the far better team. They were too good for us. We allowed them to get into the game and we were not as aggressive as we needed to be.
“We didn’t get the game started off in the right footing. I am disappointed that we didn’t give a good account of ourselves. Very disappointed. We had a great opportunity, but unfortunately we didn’t grab it.”
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