Jamie Carragher believes that even Accrington Stanley provided a much bigger test to Liverpool than Tottenham managed on Thursday night.
The Reds thrashed the north London outfit 4-0 within the second leg of the Carabao Cup tie to beat their first leg defeat and progress 4-1 on aggregate.
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Liverpool now face Newcastle within the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on March 16 whilst Spurs could go one more season and not using a trophy.
Their last success got here in 2008 with a League Cup win, meaning 2025 might be a seventeenth consecutive 12 months without silverware.
Spurs have consistently struggled to make it count in big moments but Carragher has found something rather more alarming.
He believes League Two side Accrington caused more problems for Liverpool once they lost 4-0 to the Reds of their FA Cup third round clash last month.
“I’m not only saying this to try to make a headline but actually I believe of a cup tie Liverpool played at home a number of weeks ago within the FA Cup,” he said on Sky Sports.
“I believe Accrington Stanley, now Liverpool didn’t play their best team, do not get me incorrect…
“But they gave greater than Tottenham and caused Liverpool more of an issue in that game, that is not right.”
One statistic particularly back up Carragher’s claim too as Accrington managed more shots on course than Spurs – one vs zero.
Meanwhile, Accrington had a greater xG of 0.24 at full time compared with Spurs’ 0.19.
Liverpool could have been 1-0 down heading into the second leg but their former defender had little to no belief that Spurs would get the job done.
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“It was never doubtful before the sport, it’s Tottenham,” Carragher said.
“When do Tottenham ever win an enormous game? When do Tottenham ever go somewhere and surprise you and win against the chances?
“The percentages were massively in favour of Liverpool, they’re at home at Anfield, they’re the very best team within the country, possibly the very best team in Europe straight away.
“But it surely’s not only this Spurs team, they never shock you, they never do something out of the bizarre.
“I’m attempting to think the last big game they won and I’d probably should return to that Ajax game, the semi-final of the Champions League [in 2019].
“I used to be within the stadium that night, and I don’t desire to take nothing away from Tottenham but they were lucky.
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“They got battered for a lot of the game, little bit of a freak [game], they got two goals within the last minute. But each time they go into big games in football, nobody ever believes they’ll win.
“That is not me as a Liverpool fan, those Tottenham fans there tonight, not one in all them would’ve believed they were going to Wembley.”
Former Tottenham and Liverpool man Jamie Redknapp was alongside Carragher and likewise gave a damning assessment.
“From Tottenham’s perspective, I cannot remember a team in my lifetime go down with less of a fight than what they did today,” Redknapp said.
“Not having one shot on course in a semi-final second leg if you’re attempting to do something, trying to alter the course of your history…
“I feel sorry for those young players. The manager is changing… Djed Spence, I believe Djed Spence played 14 different positions tonight, I’ve never seen anything prefer it.
“You have got your young players, you are meant to guard them. Archie Gray and [Lucas] Bergvall, they’re young men they usually’re attempting to fight, they’re trying their best.
“I have a look at the experienced players today, to guide and to be sure that that they set the precise tempo, they didn’t try this one bit.
“I mean, there’s been some lows, [Crystal] Palace, Everton, Ipswich this season but that today, we have a look at that scoreline, I mean it’s just horrendous.”
Ex-Spurs defender Michael Dawson added: “Really, really damaging that performance.
“I got here here tonight and knew it was going to be a tricky task. Did I expect it to be like that? No, I believed there’d be more of a fight from those players.
“First leg, you come here 1-0 up, it was going to be backs against the wall. They go behind in the primary half they usually didn’t show any character.
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“In possession, out of possession, desire to maintain the ball out the back of the online, to come back here and get beat 4 and not using a fight and have a shot on course, damaging that performance.”
