Pundit backs up Ryan Mason’s Spurs claim after League Cup Final defeat

Alex McLeish has backed up Ryan Mason’s claim that Tottenham Hotspur are several years away from being able to compete with Manchester City.

Although it took an 82nd-minute set-piece for City to find the winner against Tottenham in last Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, there was a sense of inevitability about the result.

City dominated proceedings from start to finish and picked up their fourth-straight League Cup win, while Tottenham’s long wait for silverware goes on.

Ryan Mason admitted after the game that Pep Guardiola’s side were “four to five years” ahead in their development compared to where Spurs are.

That is not a comment that is likely to convince the likes of Harry Kane, who has been tipped to leave the club this summer, that he can fulfil his ambitions at Spurs.

However, McLeish insisted that he understood where the interim Spurs boss was coming from and admitted that North Londoners have dropped off drastically compared to where they were two years ago.

When asked about Mason’s comments, the former Birmingham City boss told Football Insider: “They beat Man City in the Champions League the season they went nearly all the way.

“I suppose nearly all the way is the story of their life. They really looked a right good side at that time.

“I get what he’s talking about in terms of the Man City passing rhythms and their different connections.

“Their triangles with Foden, the top players in the team, the geniuses, were all over the place. They do look head and shoulders above Spurs.

“If it’s going to take another rebuild at Spurs then there are a few players that probably need to be changed over.”

Spurs Web Opinion

While it is clear that our squad needs to be strengthened in several areas if we are going to go toe-to-toe with the likes of City, I certainly do not think our squad is as bad as some people think it is. I believe we could see a vast improvement from several of our players under the right head coach.

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