The former Chelsea striker compared the 3-2 win at Villa Park to children’s Sunday league football.
Tony Cascarino has criticised the inability of Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho to make his side harder to break down yet.
Writing in the Times about Spurs’ 3-2 late victory over Aston Villa, Cascarino likened the defending on show to Sunday league football, which is not in keeping with Mourinho’s record as a defensively cautious boss.
He said: “What a crazy game between Aston Villa and Tottenham, with both teams charging from one end of Villa Park to the other. At times it was like watching a kids’ Sunday morning match. José Mourinho’s teams are meant to be hard to beat. Not this one. They could easily have blown this, while Villa concede too many goals.
“It was the sort of game where coaches would be tearing their hair out after working hard all week watching videos, preparing tactics to counter the opposition. This, though, looked like no preparation had been done. These teams know they will have to do so much better.”
Given Mourinho’s past, it would be a surprise if Tottenham’s openness under his management was intentional and the Portuguese will likely be aware of how close his side came to dropping points yesterday.
It is possible he has responded to the criticism of his management style at Chelsea and Manchester United – that he was too dour, that he was yesterday’s man and too negative – by building a new, expansive Tottenham side.
It’s more likely that he does want more defensive stability and it would not be a surprise at all to see him sign a new right back and holding midfielder in the summer with that in mind.
It has propelled Tottenham up the league though and they are in with a real shout of Champions League qualification, which wasn’t the case when Mauricio Pochettino was sacked.
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