Paul Merson shocked by what he saw Tottenham do this week

By Sam Preston

Paul Merson has commented on Tottenham after their exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Sheffield United this week.

Merson wrote in his Daily Star column about Spurs’ 1-0 fifth round defeat, for which Harry Kane was left on the bench at the start.

He believes they have blown their final remaining realistic chance of silverware this season, even though they are still in the Champions League.

They face AC Milan on Wednesday night in their last 16 second leg, going into the game 1-0 down from the match at the San Siro.

Paul Merson comments on Tottenham FA Cup exit

He said: “I was listening to talkSPORT after Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat in the FA Cup and Jamie O’Hara was saying he was shocked by the result. I wasn’t shocked at all. I expected Spurs to win but if you don’t play Harry Kane you’re already behind the eight ball. Tottenham are Harry Kane. I’m not being horrible to the other players.

“Spurs got carried away beating Chelsea, it was one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen in 25 years from the Blues. You have to remember, Tottenham were thrashed 4-1 at Leicester a couple of weeks ago. So the Chelsea win was just papering over the cracks.

“Tottenham’s last trophy was 16 years ago and they still mug the FA Cup off. It’s mind-blowing. Unless they’re being disrespectful to Sheffield United, which is a hard place to go under the lights.

“Let’s be honest they have more chance of winning the FA Cup than the Champions League yet they will play their full-strength team against AC Milan. I just don’t get it.”

Spurs keep undervaluing the domestic cup competitions, and they did the same under Mauricio Pochettino, who many fans want back.

That makes no real sense as Merson says, especially for a club who are on such a long trophy drought which dates back to 2008.

Now, they are fighting to get into the top four and go as far as they can in the Champions League, but that does not get fans as excited as a Wembley win would.