Tottenham not Premier League title challengers despite last-gasp win over Liverpool, says Gary Neville – Sky Sports
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Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, Neville said: “I don’t think they’re [Spurs] title contenders. When you see the bench coming on at the end, you know they’re not title contenders, I think they’ll be way off that.”
Football Expert @GNev2
Sunday 1 October 2023 07:40, UK
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Gary Neville insists Tottenham are not Premier League title contenders this season – despite being a point behind leaders Manchester City.
Spurs claimed a dramatic three points after Joel Matip turned Pedro Porro’s cross into his own net in the sixth minute of stoppage time to continue the hosts’ flying start under new boss Ange Postecoglou.
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, Neville said: “I don’t think they’re title contenders. When you see the bench coming on at the end, you know they’re not title contenders, I think they’ll be way off that. But what they are is spirited, more resilient than I imagined they would be and I say that more out of the North London Derby last week and what I saw.
“They’re in a good place. There’s a spirit in the stadium, on the pitch and there is a connection with the way the manager is, the players on the pitch and the people in the crowd. We’re not talking too much about the boardroom at Spurs as much as we would have been in the last few years.
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“There’s no doubt there’s something happening here for Spurs. It isn’t always as good as it looks and I think there will be challenges down the line, but I think they’ll have a better season than I thought they would.”
The Professional Game Match Officials Limited has acknowledged a “significant human error” occurred during Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Liverpool after a Luis Diaz effort in the 34th minute was incorrectly ruled out for offside.
Micky van de Ven says Ange Postecoglou’s side are not afraid of anyone but believes it is too early to call Tottenham title contenders.
The bookmakers’ odds on Spurs winning the title continue to shorten and victory at Luton next weekend will see them, temporarily at least, go top, but defender Van de Ven is just enjoying the moment.
“It’s early to say,” the Netherlands international said. “But hopefully we can keep pushing now and we are going to see where it’s going to end.
“It’s early to say if we are title candidates this year but we will keep pushing, keep pushing and we’re going to see.
“We want the best this season so we’re going to see where it will end.
“We are not afraid of any team. We will keep playing our way and hopefully we can improve even more from how we are playing now and hopefully we can keep pushing.”
Referee Simon Hooper sent off Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota either side of half-time, but Liverpool were left aggrieved by the first-half decision to rule out Diaz’s effort.
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Mohamed Salah played Diaz through and the Colombian rifled into the bottom corner, but the offside flag was raised and a quick VAR check by Darren England at Stockley Park deemed the Liverpool attacker was offside.
Still images of the incident appeared to show Cristian Romero play Diaz onside and Spurs took the lead two minutes later when Heung-min Son poked home. Liverpool’s ‘goal’ was incorrectly disallowed due to “significant human error”, PGMOL has admitted.
Neville said: “I’ve gone soft, why do I feel sorry for Liverpool? I should be dancing in the air with the Tottenham fans singing about Big Ange. There’s a professional side to you when you realise what Matip, Jota and Curtis Jones will be going through in the dressing room.
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“Liverpool gave so much. They looked rock solid, they were resilient, everything you would want in a football team. We’re really quick sometimes to look at a team and say they’re not putting it in, you’d never say that about Jurgen Klopp’s teams. That was the absolute opposite from that Liverpool team today.
“They’ve run themselves into the ground. Klopp’s substitutions, the way in which they defended, the way in which they managed the game, they looked experienced. I’ve been critical of that Liverpool backline at times in this last 12 months for a team so experienced to concede goals but actually they’d only conceded five goals before this game.”
Neville added: “They’ve definitely got a spirit, a fight, Klopp’s teams always do. I don’t think they’ll challenge for the title. Their midfield is better and settled in quicker than I thought they would, but I still think there will be some challenges that they haven’t got a true holding player. They’re in a pretty decent place.
“Klopp might not challenge for the title this season but another transfer window or two and he may have something quite special. If Nunez, Diaz, Salah, Jota, Gakpo, Gravenberch, if those players can start to build something this season they may be in a place next season where they can challenge again with one or two more additions. They aren’t far away.
“Klopp will be in a good place from where he was in the transfer window when he was wondering what was going to happen and there was a little bit of dismay amongst Liverpool fans that they wouldn’t get those midfield players they needed.”
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