When José Mourinho signed for Tottenham, it was less of a mixed bag and more of a bag with a rather nasty tear in it. There were some fine quotes that came out of the ‘All Or Nothing’ documentary, and in particular, the one where he urged his players to be ‘clever‘, as opposed to ‘stupid‘. You might recall the full line due to its repeated profanity.
Today, at The Bridge, I felt we were occasionally very stupid and extremely fortunate not to leave with zero points and reputation damaged well beyond two managers having handbags.
I take a view that the tackle on Havertz by Bentancur was at least a yellow, and the assault by Romero on Cucurella’s afro was a complete disgrace.
Sure, beered-up and bouncing, we all want Spurs to win at all costs, but today’s performance left me wondering just what we have become. I’m not suggesting we play like a bunch of softies, but too much of that performance this afternoon lacked professional character.
Naively or not, it’s my belief that we aren’t the sort of side that embraces Diego Costa-type tactics.
Tottenham’s coach pulls out of SW5 tonight with a point more than it arrived with. Short-term gain. Huzza! However, for the foreseeable future, all referees will be watching us for any other indicators of belligerence we might let slip. It’s impossible to, brush a Premier League clash that resulted in both coaches being red-carded, under anyone’s radar.