Sluggish Spurs are still lagging behind the top four

James Olley
2 Dec 2009

If Harry Redknapp can learn anything from Tottenham's Carling Cup exit, it is perhaps that while his squad may contain the talent to claim a top-four Premier League finish, any such pretensions may ultimately be undermined by their attitude.

Last night's 2-0 defeat by Manchester United followed the predictable pattern of losses against other members of the 'Big Four' that provide such a stark contrast to the opening day victory over Liverpool.

That day, Spurs were rampant in possession, dogged in the tackle and resilient in defence but the alarming speed with which their challenge petered out at Old Trafford mirrored the recent losses by Arsenal and Chelsea.

Redknapp sent out a strong side - as he did in the previous two rounds, against Everton and Preston - and made just four changes from the side that drew with Aston Villa last weekend.

Yet despite a near-dominant opening period during which Redknapp's side created the better opportunities and controlled possession, United had scored twice.

Conceding against the run of play is merely lamentable - what would have irked Redknapp to the extent that he shunned the post-match press conference was the acceptance that this defeat appeared an inevitability from the moment the second goal was scored.

United were allowed to drift through the second half despite fielding only a handful of players who would be regulars in their first-choice side.

Old Trafford struggled to motivate itself for the occasion - 57,212 came through the turnstiles, United's second lowest gate of the season - but they made the noise of half that many and perhaps it rubbed off on the players.

It was a strange ambiance in which to contest a cup quarter-final and Spurs had restricted United to sporadic efforts from distance before Darron Gibson fired the home side ahead with one such attempt after 16 minutes.

Sebastien Bassong should be embarrassed by the time it took him to close Gibson down - given their top-four aspirations, perhaps they should review the blood and guts defending John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho exemplified for Chelsea at Arsenal last weekend.

To Tottenham's credit, they continued to carve out chances but Gibson (left) struck again in the 38th minute, this time with a superb curling finish after a quick exchange of passes with Danny Welbeck.

Aside from a David Bentley second-half strike which forced another smart save from Tomasz Kuszczak, Spurs offered nothing thereafter, seemingly content to accept defeat and head back down the M6.

"The longer the game went on, the worse we got," said assistant manager Kevin Bond.

"They were bad goals from our point of view. From then on we never gave Manchester United any problems at all. Whether there was no belief as to whether we could back in the game at 2-0, I don't know.

"In the early part of the game we created problems and I thought that there was a real chance we could progress in the cup but not the way we performed.

"I certainly hope this is a one-off. All the lads have done fantastically well this season up until now. Obviously this is a bad result - it is a lesson for everybody and hopefully it won't repeat itself."

The concern has to be that it is simply not a one-off. Spurs have not beaten United in 21 attempts and have not won at Old Trafford since 1989.

Similarly, Spurs have beaten Arsenal once in the last 10 years and can count only three victories over Chelsea in seven years.Tottenham's recent record over Liverpool is more favourable but only at White Hart Lane and the biggest challenge facing Redknapp is to convince his players they can remain competitive in matches against the teams they are looking to depose.

They were much better than United early on here in Manchester and faded, while they remained competitive at Emirates Stadium for over 40 minutes before conceding two goals in a minute.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who sat in the stands to complete his two-match touchline ban last night, said: "I thought we were a bit fortunate in the first half. We scored against the run of play.

"Tottenham were dominating the first 30 minutes of the match. They could have been in front and they had two or three good opportunities to score. Tomasz Kuszczak made a good save down at his right-hand post from Jermain Defoe and really we couldn't get out game going until we scored the goal.

"In the second half we were much better. Darron did very well - the second goal in particular was a fantastic strike. I want these lads to enjoy the semi-final because they will play again."

Ferguson's side remain on course to successfully defend the trophy they won last season at the expense of Spurs, who, when the dust settles, must view their exit as a distraction removed from their pursuit of the Champions League.

Tottenham travel to Everton on Sunday where they will be favourites to inflict further misery on beleaguered boss David Moyes.

It seems that tag continues to suit them a lot better.