‘Dele Alli, Victor Wanyama… oh my God, so bad!’: Ruud Gullit slates Tottenham stars after Champions League semi-final defeat by Ajax
Ruud Gullit did not hold back in his criticism of Tottenham’s players after their Champions League semi-final first leg defeat by Ajax on Tuesday night.
Spurs will have it all to do in Amsterdam next week if they are to keep their Champions League dream alive after Donny van de Beek’s first-half goal proved decisive.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were frustrated in attack and barely managed to trouble their opponents as they battled for an equaliser in north London.
Ruud Gullit (L) did not hold back in his criticism of Tottenham players after their defeat by Ajax
Gullit slammed some of their players for their underwhelming displays on a crucial night
During his punditry work for beIN Sports on Tuesday night, Gullit praised Ajax but then slammed a number of Spurs players for their underwhelming displays on a crucial night for the club.
‘They (Ajax) were under pressure but even under pressure they could hold their defence. They didn’t give away a chance.
‘But, for me, a lot of players were disappointing because I see them every week in the Premier League.
‘Dele Alli, oh my god, technically wise so bad. (Victor) Wanyama, my god, technically wise, (Danny) Rose too.
‘Like I said I see them every week and how is it possible to make so many mistakes? I know you’re under pressure but you need to know what to do and they didn’t.’
Gullit slammed the technical ability of Alli, who offered very little going forward on Tuesday
The Dutch legend also took aim at Victor Wanyama, who struggled to cope in central midfield
Former Ajax player Christian Eriksen was also underwhelming but he felt Tottenham made their Dutch opponents look better than they were.
‘We didn’t play our best,’ Eriksen told BT Sport. ‘The first 20 minutes of the game we were just ball watchers. We need to chase it the next game.
‘We made them look a lot better. We helped them on the way. When we changed the system it helped us a bit and gave us a different way to press. It is still far from what we know we can do.
‘Everyone felt disappointed that we didn’t compete in the way that we know we can. It doesn’t really matter the result. We need to change a lot of how we played today.’