‘Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma disgraceful for Tottenham’ in Liverpool loss
Tottenham had their “disgrace” of a midfield trio to blame after losing 4-0 to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final, according to Jamie Carragher.
Spurs went into their Thursday (6 February) night clash with Liverpool in the second-leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, leading 1-0.
Having beaten the Reds at home, thanks to a Lucas Bergvall goal, Spurs were seemingly in control of the tie.
However, the North London club failed to get to grips with Liverpool, and ended up losing 4-0 on the night, thanks to goals from Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk was lucky to be on the pitch after elbowing Richarlison, according to former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett.
But the main talking point Antonin Kinsky who gave away a penalty against Liverpool, as he attempted to intercept a pass but instead brought down Darwin Nunez.
Carragher gave his thoughts after the match, and was critical of the midfield triumvirate of Pape Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma.
Liverpool legend, Carragher, said on Sky Sports Main Event (6 February, 10.12pm):
“When I look at those three midfield players I thought they were a disgrace. No matter who your manager is you’re playing the semi-final.
“Talk about them getting on the ball. We all come into this game and if you’re a Tottenham man you know first 15 minutes, half an hour, Liverpool will be on the ball, you’ve gotta put them under pressure, get after them, be aggressive… It was still so easy for them…
“We’ve criticised Ange Postecoglou. Let’s not forget we’ve called him naïve at times, putting full-backs into midfield and leaving themselves open. That looked like a team that was picked before the game saying ‘We’re gonna try and make it difficult for Liverpool’…
“I thought that was a team to try and stop Liverpool and nullify Liverpool… but those midfield players they didn’t put a challenge in.”
Pape Matar Sarr also slammed as Spurs collapse at Anfield
Football Insider Verdict
Richarlison was forced off injured against Liverpool, as the Brazilian striker seemed to suffer another muscular injury, having only returned recently from a lay-off.
Mathys Tel was signed on Deadline Day from Bayern Munich, and the Frenchman came on for the injured Richarlison, but failed to have any meaningful impact on the match.
A makeshift backline which featured Archie Gray at right-back, Djed Spence at left-back and Ben Davies pairing debutant, Kevin Danso, at centre-half, was perpetually carved open by a confident Liverpool front-line.
With three defenders playing out of position, Spurs stood little chance at retaining their lead against Liverpool.
Ange Postecoglou job under threat as trophy-less season looms
The Australian manager’s position at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been under threat for what feels like an eternity now.
Postecoglou has consistently fallen back on injury woes as a reason for his squad’s failings, but the decision to leave out Pedro Porro, and Bergvall was a puzzling one.
Hindsight makes it easy to say he got it wrong, but Bergvall proved his value going forward in the first-leg, and Postecoglou may have regretted his decision to bench the Swedish player, as he brought him on in the 57th minute.
Spurs will now have to win the FA Cup or Europa League this season, not only to end their trophy drought that has lasted since 2008, but also to qualify for Europe, as they currently sit 14th in the table.