Alan Shearer fumes after Everton ‘absolutely battered’ Tottenham
Alan Shearer has revealed his shock and irritation at watching Tottenham get “absolutely battered” by 10-man Everton.
Having seen Abdoulaye Doucouré sent off for sticking his hand in Harry Kane’s face, the battling display at Goodison Park on Monday (3 April) looked to have been lost when the England captain scored from the spot in the second half.
But from that point on Everton were by far the better side, and ended up rescuing a crucial 1-1 draw at the death through Michael Keane, but the Spurs performance so annoyed Shearer he was shouting at his TV screen and then convinced to write a column about it.
In The Athletic Shearer said: “Watching Spurs labour against Everton irritated me though. Playing against the 10 men of a relegation-threatened team, 1-0 up and being absolutely battered wasn’t a good look.
“Where were the leaders? Why was nobody taking the sting from the game, doing the cynical things the good teams always do? I’m talking about Manchester City with their constant sly little fouls when they lose possession or players going down ‘injured’ to buy a bit of time.
“Tottenham did none of that, Everton hogged the ball and I couldn’t really comprehend what I was seeing. On the face of it, this was Antonio Conte’s argument being made for him, even after he had left the club.”
Ironic
Shearer may be justified in his annoyance at how the Toffees came back into the game against a side supposedly challenging for the Champions League but calling for more cynical play seems like a move in the wrong direction.
Kane was more than cynical enough when he got Doucouré sent off by going in for a challenge after the whistle and then going down ‘injured’ for what Sean Dyche has since called getting “flicked in the eyelash”.
And it overlooks the point that prior to that incident the home side were very much in the game anyway.
Clearly there are deeper issues at Spurs after Conte was sacked following his explosive press conference against the club while still manager.
But, while nobody can argue that it is all smooth sailing at Goodison Park given the endless off-field problems, Dyche at least has his players all pulling in the right direction.
The relegation battle is far from won but Keane recovering from the unfortunate foul that conceded the penalty to step up and smash home a long-range equaliser was emblematic of his own revival under the former Burnley manager, and that of the squad overall.