Jamie Redknapp has insisted that there is a “gulf in class” between Tottenham and Man City whether the Londoners had Jose Mourinho or not.
After seventeen months in charge, Mourinho left Spurs last Monday. Tottenham have suffered disappointing exits in the Europa League and the FA Cup and they have also slipped out of the top four in recent months.
One of the bright sparks of his reign was that he guided them to this season’s Carabao Cup final. He was not allowed to lead his side out at Wembley, as he left just six days before the final.
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29-year-old Ryan Mason is the interim boss and he walked Spurs out in the final. The Londoners were outclassed by Man City, though.
Pep Guardiola’s men were much the better side and they won the Carabao Cup for the fourth successive season thanks to Aymeric Laporte’s late winner.
As cited by The Mirror, Redknapp suggested after the game that Spurs would still have lost if Mourinho had still been there:
“I think everyone will say: ‘Would Jose have a difference if he was here for this game?’, but it didn’t have a different feel to when they played at the Etihad a couple of months ago.
“There was a gulf in class then and I think it was pretty much the same.
“You have to be so careful because we all believe in a philosophy,” Redknapp said. “You want to play out from the back, but if a team is pressing you and they get success with it and they can’t get out, there has to be a time, even as a player where you accept this isn’t working.
“Then you go to the halfway line, try to turn them and get down the sides, a little bit like Chelsea did last week.”
Most successful managers in League Cup history:
Brian Clough
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Meanwhile, Eric Dier said after the cup final that he was “hurt deeply” by the defeat:
“I am not going to lie, this one is very tough because seven years and to not have a trophy it hurts me deeply,” he said. “So, you have to go again. It’s tough.
“Very disappointed. Nothing else really I can say other than that. An opportunity to win a trophy and we have come up short, in the worst possible way with the goal we have conceded.
“With the way we have managed to get into the game at the start of the second half, built some momentum, survived the beginning of the first half when we knew it was going to be difficult, they are a great team, it’s disappointing.
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