Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson was highly critical of Tottenham Hotspur’s performance at the weekend.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side faced current champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening and came away from the match with somewhat of a controversial draw.
It was almost a repeat of the Champions League quarter-final second leg clash between the two sides at the end of last season, with a late winner and scenes of joy from Pep Guardiola’s side, only to be denied out by the officials.
City replacement Gabriel Jesus thought he had won it, but Aymeric Laporte was adjudged to have handballed in the build up to the Brazilian finding the back of the net.
Merson certainly did not hold back on his assessment of Tottenham’s performance after claiming that they got ‘rinsed’ by City and could have ended up being six or seven goals down whilst not being able to complain about the scoreline.
He said in his column for Sky Sports: “Let’s be honest, it is not like Spurs went there and ripped Man City apart! They could play 75 per cent as good as they did on Saturday and still win the league comfortably!
“It was an absolute battering! And all City will be taking away from that is: there is nothing wrong with us.
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“If I were Tottenham, they just got over the line against Villa and let’s be honest, they got rinsed on Saturday. And if that had ended up six or seven, Tottenham would not have complained, they could not have moaned.
“City do not have to tweak anything if they carry on playing like that. You cannot see anybody beating them.
“Last season, Kevin De Bruyne did not play a lot and they still won the league and now you are talking about a player who would walk into every other team in the league, if not the world.
“There is nothing wrong with City, they played very, very well. And if they keep on playing like that, teams will not be able to live with them. And that was against one of the top three teams in the country, a title contender and a very good team themselves, not against a team from the bottom half.
“And they were making Tottenham look very, very average on Saturday and believe me, they are not an average team, they are a very good side.
“And that just puts it in perspective…”
Opinion
Merson has a natural dislike for Tottenham given his previous involvement with the Woolwich. To say that Tottenham were rinsed is completely disrespectful; hopefully, he will be eating his words following the upcoming North London derby.
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