Harry Redknapp has slammed people who label Tottenham Hotspur as ‘Spursy’ after they were beaten 2-0 at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The former Premier League boss questioned ‘how can you label a team’ with that tag, when this current side have got nothing to do with what happened 15 years ago, as he told talkSPORT on Wednesday morning.
That tag was thrown at Tottenham in Portugal because Antonio Conte watched his side suffer their first defeat of the campaign.
With the first international break around the corner, those at Hotspur Way would have more than accepted losing only one game at this stage.
That’s not being ‘Spursy’ but the north London club showcasing grit and fight to their game under a coach that is known to bring the absolute best out of teams.
Conte will be looking to push his side back on track against Leicester City at the weekend, as Redknapp didn’t like what he was hearing about his former side after their defeat in Lisbon.
“It wasn’t a disastrous result or performance,” said Redknapp. “In the long term, I think they will qualify out of the group, it was just one of them nights. It happens away from home. I am sure Conte would have been happy with a point.
“What is Spursy? I mean what is it? It’s different teams, different managers and different players. How can you label a team ‘Oh, 15 years ago they got beat by somebody’. That was different people.
“It’s because they haven’t been good enough (on Spurs not winning anything of late). There are only a couple of trophies you can win and they haven’t been good enough to win any of them. But they did get to a Champions League final under Pochettino.
“You can’t label a football club and the players. They are different players. Different eras and different people. They don’t put the shirt on and say ‘Oh, we are Spurs and we are going to be a soft touch for somebody’. It’s not the way it works.”
CAN CONTE WIN A TROPHY AT TOTTENHAM?
The Italian isn’t known for being a long-term manager, but he has made it clear that this current project requires a long-term focus.
Daniel Levy backed Conte during the 2022 summer transfer window, and so far, the results are showcasing themselves in a good light during the early stages of the season.
But the thing that fans crave the most is winning a trophy and this is their best chance in a very long time.
Whilst Mauricio Pochettino had a better starting XI, it could be argued Conte now has better depth and a team that is getting stronger, so it’s going to be interesting to see how Spurs compete in the domestic competitions this term.