Former Spurs midfielder Matthew Etherington has told talkSPORT Mauricio Pochettino got his tactics all wrong against Manchester United.
We were humbled in our FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, throwing away a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 and
unable to breakdown a stubborn Jose Mourinho team once we went behind.
Pochettino made several changes and Etherington, who helped Spurs to a League Cup final in 2002, believes the Argentine boss’ reluctance to play his best team, despite behind the scenes politics, was baffling.
Etherington said: “[Pochettino] has done a brilliant job at Tottenham in the four and a half years he’s been there. He’s been sensational and the team is moving forward, I don’t think anyone can dispute that but yesterday I do think he got that wrong”
He added “[Hugo] Lloris, for me, should have played. [David] De Gea was in there for the big semi-final at Wembley, the big occasion. And [Toby] Alderweireld as well, again, he’s just come back from injury but he’s their best defender along with [Jan] Vertonghen – you play your best players in your biggest games.
He added: “[Alderweireld] has been brilliant for Spurs. Yesterday was the perfect game to chuck him in, even though there is politics going on outside the football pitch, just chuck him in.In the big games, the big players tend to turn up. He would have done yesterday and he would have been a massive asset to the team.
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