Just a week after he questioned Tottenham Hotspur’s mentality, Roy Keane has praised the Lilywhites for the character they showed to emerge with a point from the Etihad.
Hardly anyone had given Spurs a chance of getting a result on Sunday, given that they were heading into the game on the back of three straight losses and had many of their key players out injured.
In fact, most pundits predicted that Tottenham would be on the receiving end of an embarrassing scoreline if Postecoglou set the team up to play on the front foot (Sky Sports).
For much of the first half, it looked like those predictions would come true as Spurs made a lot of errors in their own third, with City smothering them with their press.
However, Ange Postecoglou’s men came out with a lot more purpose in the second half and took the game to the home side, showing plenty of character to come back twice from a deficit.
Keane has been one of Tottenham’s biggest critics in the past, even referring to the side as ‘Spursy’ following their loss to Aston Villa last week (Sky Sports: 16:05 – 26/11/23).
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Spurs seem to earn the respect of Roy Keane, for now
However, the Man Utd legend changed his tune after Spurs’ second-half performance at the Etihad, remarking that they were good value for their point.
The pundit told Sky Sports (as relayed by Football.London) about Tottenham after the 3-3 draw: “They deserve a lot of plaudits. Think about their performance, especially the first half, and to come back at the end. Over the years I have been critical… they deserve the point.”
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Even when our players were making mistakes and City were all over us in the first half, the players’ heads never dropped. They kept sticking to their principles and kept believing that they could come back and salvage something from the game.
That is certainly proof that this Tottenham side is made of sterner stuff than the Spurs sides of the past, with the squad appearing to have imbibed Postecoglou’s mantra of never stopping until the final whistle.
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