Ramos hails Spurs improvement - Sport in brief - Evening Standard
       

Ramos hails Spurs improvement

Juande Ramos admitted his surprise at the rate of Tottenham's development following Tuesday night's emphatic Carling Cup semi-final win at White Hart Lane.

Spurs ended their miserable run against their rivals in style, the 5-1 victory sending them to Wembley next month to face Chelsea or Everton.

"Yes, it's been a big change," said Ramos. "But without the collaboration of the footballers themselves, this would have been impossible. The huge effort the players have made to come out of a bad situation means we have been improving."

He added: "We're involved in everything at the moment. I want to publicly recognise that they are the architects of this change."

Ramos has played his part, though, making changes behind the scenes since taking over from Martin Jol at the end of October.

The result has been extending his remarkable record in knockout competitions; he has not lost a cup tie in two years.

"Really I'd want to win everything, whether it's a cup competition or the Premier League or the UEFA Cup," the Spaniard added. "Sometimes you don't get the luck. But, really, I don't know why I'm particularly good at knock-out competitions."

Jermaine Jenas got the ball rolling on Tuesday night with a third-minute strike, then Bendtner headed into his own net before the break.

Robbie Keane added a third after the restart and Aaron Lennon grabbed a fourth. Emmanuel Adebayor came off the bench and found the top corner but Steed Malbranque wrapped up the scoring in stoppage-time.

"We put the record straight (against Arsenal) so fair play to the lads," said Jenas.

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