On record Mourinho is the only manager to have beaten Pep Guardiola in a cup final – but Jamie Redknapp said the managerial change made last week by the Spurs hierarchy made little difference to Spurs’ chances against Man City as he reckoned Jose Mourinho wouldn’t have been able to alter the course on Tottenham’s Carabao Cup chances had he still been in charge for Sunday’s defeat to the Sky Blues.<\/p>\n
Mourinho’s sacking as Spurs manager had created a stir not because his departure was unexpected, but because he had oddly been axed just six days before a cup final.<\/p>\n
Rookie manager and former player Ryan Mason was handed a tough trial first week in the job, with City proving too much of a handful for his side at Wembley\u00a0following last Wednesday’s comeback victory over Southampton.<\/p>\n
And Redknapp said it would have unlikely for Mason’s predecessor to mastermind a victory, despite the fact he remains the only manager to have got the better of City boss Pep Guardiola\u00a0in a final. He said Sunday’s performance was similar to Tottenham’s previous display against City – a 3-0 defeat in the Premier League back in February.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone will say: \u2018Would Jose have a difference if he was here for this game?\u2019, but it didn\u2019t have a different feel to when they played at the Etihad a couple of months ago,” the former Spurs midfielder said on\u00a0Sky Sports<\/em>\u00a0.<\/p>\n “There was a gulf in class then and I think it was pretty much the same.”<\/p>\n Redknapp added that Spurs should have given up on trying to play out from the back against City, and instead learned from Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final win over the league leaders the previous weekend.<\/p>\n “You have to be so careful because we all believe in a philosophy,” said Redknapp. “You want to play out from the back, but if a team is pressing you and they get success with it and they can\u2019t get out, there has to be a time, even as a player where you accept this isn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n “Then you go to the halfway line, try to turn them and get down the sides, a little bit like Chelsea did last week.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara disagreed with Redknapp’s assertion that the timing of Mourinho\u2019s\u00a0removal made little difference.<\/p>\n While O’Hara excused Mason from blame for the defeat, he instead took aim at Tottenham’s hierarchy for dispensing with Mourinho, whose Los Blancos side had gotten the better of Guardiola’s Barcelona selection in the 2011 Copa del Rey final.<\/p>\n “You can\u2019t blame Ryan Mason because he\u2019s only been there a week,” O’Hara told talkSPORT.<\/p>\n “Who sacks Jose Mourinho? He\u2019s a man that wins titles and finals, only Spurs would do that\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cOnly Spurs would sack a manager that can beat Pep Guardiola in a final a week before the final! It\u2019s unheard of.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a Jose Mourinho performance without Jose Mourinho on the side. I was hoping to see something different.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"