Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have both been called ‘clowns’ after they played out a seven-goal thriller in the League Cup on Thursday night.
Ruben Amorim was left with his head in his hands after Tottenham went 3-0 up in the 54th minute courtesy of goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke (x2). But Tottenham gifted Man Utd a route back into the quarter-final as the likes of Archie Gray and Fraser Forster struggled to play out from the back.
Joshua Zirkzee pulled a goal back for United after Bruno Fernandes intercepted a poor Forster pass towards Radu Dragusin.
The second goal was even worse from a Spurs perspective. Forster took an age to clear after being given the ball by Gray and Amad Diallo slid in to make it 3-2.
Son Heung-min then alleviated Spurs’ fears with a sensational goal from the corner spot. United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir complained that he had been impeded, but the referee ignored his pleas.
Jonny Evans scored in second-half stoppage time to give United some hope of a dramatic equaliser, but Spurs ultimately managed to hold on and book their place in the League Cup semi-finals with a 4-3 home victory.
It should have been far easier for Spurs though once they went 3-0 up. Both teams looked awful at the back and pundit Gabby Agbonlahor has now given his verdict.
“It was like two sets of clowns playing each other. The defending… Spurs going forward were very good,” he said on talkSPORT.
“Manchester United woke up a little bit in the second half thanks to some mistakes from Forster, but the defending, wow.
“I hammered Southampton’s defence, but wow. I don’t blame Forster at all, I blame the manager and the rest of the players.”
Agbonlahor added: “Forster, how long has he been around now, he’s 37. He’s always been a shot-stopper, he’s never been a keeper to play with his feet.
“I played with so many goalkeepers that if they were playing now they’d be exactly like Forster. They don’t want it.”
Pundits Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp were not impressed by what they saw, despite Spurs going through.
Carragher slammed the Spurs team for being ‘robots’ and playing the same style even when the flow of a game changes, while Redknapp said it was ‘a masterclass in how not to see a game out’.
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Postecoglou defends crazy Spurs performance
But Postecoglou does not agree. He said in his post-match interview: “I like the whole bit mate. Are you not entertained? Do you want a scrambling 1-0?
“I know the studio’s probably going into meltdown over my lack of tactics, but I love the fact we go out there and take it to opposition even though we’ve got so many absences at the minute. I really like the way we played tonight.
“I love football and I love watching teams that go out there and entertain. Obviously we want to be successful as well and we won’t be if we make things difficult for ourselves like we did tonight.
“We’re keeping all you folks entertained, creating plenty of discussion and I can’t see how that’s a bad thing.”
Asked if he wants to cut out the errors, Postecoglou added: “Of course, but your asking for perfection in human beings and that doesn’t exist, sometimes they stuff up just like I do and you do.”