30 April 2023 , 16:31
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Gary Neville joked that Tottenham might have to consider setting up a direct debit to refund fans during their embarrassing opening 15 minutes at Anfield.
Spurs went to Merseyside on Sunday hoping to build on their comeback in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Thursday. That result came on the back of a miserable 6-1 thrashing at Newcastle, which saw them go 5-0 down inside the opening 21 minutes.
Tottenham ended up refunding the fans who had made the long journey from London to Newcastle. The club released a statement to apologise to supporters and draw a line in the sand – but it also set a precedent and opened Spurs up to mockery.
They were blown away at Anfield by Liverpool, who raced into a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes. Curtis Jones volleyed in from Trent Alexander-Arnold ’s cross before Luis Diaz turned in Cody Gakpo's pass and Mohamed Salah netted from the penalty spot after Cristian Romero dived in on Gakpo.
Neville was hugely critical of Ryan Mason’s side and was quick to make light of last weekend’s refund. "They may as well set up a direct debit to the fans,” he joked to commentator Martin Tyler.
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Harry Kane pulled a goal back before half-time to make it 3-1 with a volley from Ivan Perisic’s cross, but they only came to life after a dreadful start. The opening stages saw Neville attack the away side for their shambolic defending and lack of pressing, as well as pointing the finger at chairman Daniel Levy and ex-manager Antonio Conte.
Liverpool raced into a 3-0 lead (PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)“I didn’t expect this today, not after what happened in midweek against Manchester United,” he said. “I just thought coming back in that game would leave them in a better shape mentally coming to Anfield, accepting obviously that they’re away.
“But look, this season on and off the pitch has been really bad. At one point in the season they’re third in the league, they’re in the Champions League, what more could they have asked for? And Levy and Conte are basically standing off against each other, it was always going to happen.
“He’s appointed three confrontational managers on the bounce. It was about five or six years ago where he had them in the Champions League Final, second in the league, appointed [Mauricio] Pochettino, playing great football, just come off the back of Harry Redknapp, they built a world-class stadium, got a world-class training ground, and then all of a sudden the appointment of managers in terms of alignment to the club over the last few years has been absolutely shambolic.”