Tottenham had Yves Bissouma sent off in their 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest (Reuters)
Gary Neville believes Tottenham have a discipline problem after Yves Bissouma’s red card in the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Friday evening.
Goals from Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski sealed the victory for Spurs, which keeps them fifth in the Premier League but level on points with fourth-placed Manchester City and six ahead of Manchester United who are in sixth.
However, Spurs were reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute as Bissouma was sent off for his challenge on Ryan Yates following a VAR review.
Bissouma’s dismissal was Spurs’ fourth red card of the campaign and Neville believes Ange Postecoglou will be ‘angered’ by the ‘ill-discipline’ in his squad.
‘I’ve seen teams over the last five or six years, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool I think have been really exciting, I think Pochettino’s Spurs were really exciting, obviously Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Brighton as well I think the way in which they play, but you can put this team [Tottenham under Postecoglou] right up there in that bracket and this manager has only had three or four months to work with these players, and he’s had injuries,’ Neville told Sky Sports.
Yves Bissouma was Tottenham’s fourth red card this season (Getty)
‘The one thing he has got to control is the slight discipline problem, well, not a slight discipline problem, it’s a discipline problem, they make some really reckless challenges, they’re mad at times on the pitch, and they don’t need to be.
‘There’s only a couple of players in the team who have got real composure and that’s Ben Davies and Son [Heung-min], the rest of them have all got a bit of something in them where you think, ‘what are they doing?’.
‘Neville later added: ‘They’re so talented these players, Bissouma, [Cristian] Romero, [Destiny] Udogie, they’re so important to Spurs that they’re available, they’re fit and they’re in the team.
‘To lose them constantly through ill-discipline, I got sent off two or three times in my career and make mistakes, but these are getting sent off two or three times a season some of these players, it’s the same players and they’ve got to stop it because they’re going to cost Tottenham, they are costing Tottenham.
‘Spurs will drop points without these players. If they’re injured you can’t do anything about it, but if they continue to be rash and reckless with these challenges, it’s becoming stupidity, it’s madness.
‘I’d be really angry, I bet he’s [Postecoglou] angry inside, I bet Spurs fans are angry, I’m a little bit angry because I’ve not watched a team play football for a few years that’s excited me as much as this team in terms of knowing I’m going to get a good game of football. They’ve got to stop those little bits of ill-discipline, I accept that it’s commitment but they just seem to do it regularly, they’ve got to stop it.’
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