Jamie Carragher SLAMS Tottenham’s players for a lack of ‘backbone’ and ‘courage’ in Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City and claims Ryan Mason is NOT to blame for the Wembley loss… as the pundit claims Spurs lived up to their ‘Spursy’ tagline
- Tottenham were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final
- Ryan Mason’s side created just two shots on goal compared to City’s 21 efforts
- Jamie Carragher claimed Spurs lacked ‘courage’ and ‘backbone’ in the final
- The Sky Sports pundit also claimed Tottenham lived up to their ‘Spursy’ tagline
- Carragher also took aim at left-back Sergi Reguilon for an ‘awful, shocking’ game
Jamie Carragher claims the Tottenham‘s players were solely to blame for their Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City because they lacked ‘backbone’ and ‘courage’.
Spurs were dominated for the entire of Sunday’s Wembley final by Pep Guardiola‘s side – the north Londoners mustered only two shots all game and tested goalkeeper Zack Steffen once – but only lost 1-0 thanks to Aymeric Laporte’s late header.
It was interim head coach Ryan Mason’s second game in charge of the club following Jose Mourinho‘s sacking last Monday, but Carragher refused to blame the 29-year-old rookie head coach for Tottenham’s failings at Wembley.
Jamie Carragher claimed Tottenham’s players lacked ‘backbone’ and ‘courage’ in the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City
Spurs mustered just two shots on goal in the Wembley final which City won 1-0 late on
Speaking about the final, the former Liverpool defender told Sky Sports: ‘This has nothing to do with Ryan Mason. This is a group of players that really lack courage and they basically bottled it in the final.
‘Forget losing, it was how they went about it. Yes I thought it was a strange decision (to sack Mourinho) but this is on the players.
‘In this job, a lot of pundits say typical Spurs, Spursy, they’re weak. And I go against that because I think it’s lazy punditry. Under Pochettino for a couple of years they were outstanding, under Redknapp they were outstanding for a couple of years.
‘But when Spurs fans get upset, the reason why people get upset with them is because of games like this. The last four cup finals, they haven’t scored.
Carragher told Sky Sports that Spurs lived up to their ‘Spursy’ and mentally weak tagline
‘And that’s why they’re stuck with this tag. I can’t and Spurs fans can’t argue for them.
Carragher claimed Tottenham’s players did not show enought bravery to get on the ball against Premier League leaders Manchester City, who themselves created 21 shots on goal and enjoyed a dominant first-half display.
The Sky Sports pundit also slammed Sergi Reguilon for his ‘awful’ and ‘shocking’ display at left-back against Riyad Mahrez, who enjoyed plenty of the ball on the right-hand side.
The former Liverpool defender even claimed it was the worst first-half display in a cup final since his Reds side went 3-0 down to AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul.
The ex-Liverpool defender refused to blame Spurs interim coach Ryan Mason (left) for the loss
Carragher also slammed defender Sergi Reguilon for an ‘awful’ and ‘shocking’ game in defence
On Spurs’ abject display, Carragher added: ‘We’re talking about the basics in football, showing for it, having a bit of backbone, having a bit of courage.
‘What can the manager do? How can this team play? They don’t want the ball to feet and they don’t win challenges. Reguilon was awful, shocking in the game. He thought he was getting tight to Mahrez. No fight, no courage.
‘That first half, I’ve never seen a team so lucky so get in to half-time at 0-0. There was a plan (from Mason) to stop them putting balls through the centre and going long.
‘They were playing like a team fighting relegation. They didn’t have the courage to take the ball.’