Harry Redknapp was left stunned by Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League exit to Dinamo Zagreb while questioning Dele Alli’s ongoing malaise, as he told talkSPORT (19 March, 9.30am).
Is that it, then? Is Tottenham’s season over?
At this stage, with qualification for the Champions League a mere dot on the horizon, a League Cup triumph would feel like little more than a bittersweet consolation from a season which promised so much.
If Tottenham perform against a rampant Manchester City side at Wembley like they did in the Croatian capital, that 13-year trophy drought will not be coming to an end any time soon.
Mislav Orsic’s stunning hat-trick secured a famous 3-0 win for Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday night, knocking Spurs out of Europe’s secondary club competition at the round-of-16 stage.
And Redknapp, the former Tottenham boss, was left shellshocked by the way his old club froze in the chilly temperatures of eastern Europe.
“(Dinamo) were so average I thought there’s no way (Tottenham could lose the game after a 2-0 first leg win),” Redknapp fumed.
“It was a dreadful performance, to go there and lose 3-0, it was beyond belief really. They have got a very, very strong group of players there but for whatever reason they’re not performing.”
England international Alli was handed a rare start in Croatia but, after 68 largely ineffectual minutes, he was hauled off by a clearly unimpressed Mourinho.
“Dele Alli; what’s happened to him? He’s in, he’s out, he plays he doesn’t play. (Harry) Kane, (Gareth) Bale; it’s a scary group of players.
“Even the centre-forward who came on (Carlos Vinicius) – they tell me he’s an absolutely fantastic player. They’re full of quality players, players who get in the England squad can’t even get in the Tottenham team!
“It’s been a very, very poor season. I looked at the squad and thought they could be challenging here but they’ve been miles off.”
Dinamo Zagreb will now face Unai Emery’s Villarreal for a place in the semi-finals.
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