A young Tottenham mascot had viewers in hysterics after he was heard trying to tap up Virgil van Dijk in the tunnel in the build-up to the side’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg with Liverpool.
Spurs’ defensive frailties have been on full display this season, with Ange Postecoglou’s side shipping 30 goals in the Premier League and languishing down in 12th place in the table at the halfway stage.
Having failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last five matches in all competitions, the north London outfit will be desperate to put things right at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening.
With the minutes counting down to kick-off, Tottenham’s team of mascots could be seen waiting patiently in the tunnel when Liverpool captain Van Dijk came into view.
As the Netherlands centre-back headed in their direction to dish out a few customary high fives, one of the more lairy members of the group delivered a priceless line which perfectly encapsulated Tottenham’s defensive woes.
‘Van Dijk, come to Tottenham! We haven’t got any good defenders at the moment,’ the youngster could be heard yelling, which instantly had the Sky Sports studio cackling.
In response, a giggling Mark Chapman declared that Tottenham had ‘the best value mascots’ in the Premier League.
‘The mascot is being very honest to the Liverpool players!’ the Sky Sports host said.
‘They are the best value mascots in the league at Tottenham, they always entertain, every single week, when they’re at home.
‘I don’t know if Ange Postecoglou heard the mascots or not but let’s here from him now…’
Postecoglou’s reluctance to deviate from his gung-ho approach within games has attracted heavy criticism this season and the Australian was in no mood to talk to the media after Tottenham slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Newcastle last weekend.
‘If all things were equal and balanced we would’ve won today,’ Postecoglou told BBC Sport.
Asked to clarify his comment, he replied: ‘If all things were equal and balanced we would’ve won today.
‘It just means that things weren’t equal and weren’t balanced, that’s all.’
But Postecoglou concedes that Tottenham are short at the back and revealed last month that signing a centre-back would be a ‘priority’ for the January transfer window.
‘When you think about it, we let Davinson Sanchez go after the window closed. We kind of knew we were taking a bit of a risk; we couldn’t get the extra centre-back that we were trying to get in, and for the early part of the year that was fine,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘But once we lost Micky [van de Ven], and Eric Dier’s had some issues as well, we don’t have another centre-back.
‘Young Ash Phillips had just joined the club, so it’s fair to say that we can’t run the risk of that happening again, so that’s obviously a priority for us in January.
‘But again, we’ve got to get the right person. It’s not just about bringing another body in, it’s about getting the right one in and hopefully that’ll happen.’
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