Jamie O’Hara claims Son Heung-min “absolutely bottled it” for Tottenham in their 1-0 Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
Spurs were aiming to end a 13-year trophy drought at Wembley but lost to Aymeric Laporte’s late header as they suffered another final loss.
In recent years they have lost the 2015 Carabao Cup final, which interim boss Ryan Mason played in, the 2019 Champions League final and also fallen away in two Premier League title races.
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They never really looked like ending that streak against City, who were totally dominant on their way to a fourth League Cup crown in a row.
There were scenes of devastation at full-time, with Son in tears on the pitch, while Eric Dier had to stop a post-match interview to compose himself.
But O’Hara has little sympathy for Tottenham with the former midfielder calling their performance against City “pathetic”.
O’Hara told talkSPORT: “Two shots in a cup final, it’s pathetic, a pathetic performance. Man City were way better, we were miles off it.
“So many players talk a big game and don’t produce in big moments. It was shocking.
“Spurs have become pretenders. We think we’re a big club, we act like we’re a big club but we ain’t a big club. The problem is you’ve got too many players out there who think they’re great players but they’re not.
“We beat Brentford in the semi-finals, Brentford would’ve done better! They would have left everything out on the pitch, they would’ve pressed, they would’ve closed. They may have got beaten by three or four but at least they would’ve tried to score.
“It was such a bad performance from so many players who class themselves as good players. [Heung-min] Son, he gave the ball away every time he got it. He didn’t fancy going at Kyle Walker one v one… he absolutely bottled it.”
On Jose Mourinho’s sacking at Tottenham, O’Hara added: “You can’t blame Ryan Mason because he’s only been there a week. Who sacks Jose Mourinho? He’s a man that wins titles and finals, only Spurs would do that…
“Only Spurs would sack a manager that can beat Pep Guardiola in a final a week before the final! It’s unheard of.
“It was a Jose Mourinho performance without Jose Mourinho on the side. I was hoping to see something different.”
And O’Hara reckons any potential new manager will now “run a mile” after seeing how Spurs have performed this season.
O’Hara continued: “Who wants to take over this squad? The best player in Kane is going to leave in the summer, so you’ve got a basic squad who don’t produce in big games.
“Unless Daniel Levy’s going to beg someone like Julian Nagelsmann to come in or give him £150million…
“They’re gonna run a mile. Not even Nuno Espirito Santo or Brendan Rodgers would take over.
“The whole week has been a disgrace. The whole ESL thing and Spurs pretending they’re a big club and then sacking Jose Mourinho before the final that you brought him in to win.”
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