Glenn Hoddle took aim at Manchester United's weekend hammering at Liverpool after former United defender Rio Ferdinand attempted to target Tottenham.
Hoddle, who managed Spurs between 2001 and 2003, was in the BT Sport studio with Ferdinand to watch his former club take on AC Milan in the Champions League. Antonio Conte's men were held to a goalless draw, though, meaning Brahim Diaz's first-leg winner was enough to send Milan through at Spurs' expense.
After the game, the London side's perceived flakiness came into focus, with Ferdinand throwing the critical 'Spursy' label in their direction. Hoddle was having none of it, though, especially after the defeat suffered by Erik ten Hag's side on Sunday.
"It’s that old thing - ‘a bit Spursy, that’," Ferdinand said on BT Sport's live coverage. "You’ll see it everywhere on social media. It feels like that, same old story."
However, he felt the elimination was not enough of a reason to sack Antonio Conte, instead pointing to Spurs' transfer activity. " The recruitment’s got to be better," he continued.
Hoddle couldn't resist making reference to United's 7-0 loss at Liverpool, their heaviest ever defeat against the Anfield side. However, in doing so, he did still recognise the issues faced by his former employers. "You look for patterns, a one-off 7-0 could be a blip, but there's a lot of repeated patterns here," he said, before turning towards his fellow pundit and letting out a smile.
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"The bigger picture is the problem," Hoddle added. "How they're playing, the way they're playing, the lack of creativity, and is that from the manager or is it just the lack of creativity or the lack of ability in the team?
"This summer you've probably got to get five new players in there, [in] different areas of the pitch, to actually improve again, let alone go and challenge for whatever you want to challenge for. So there is a bit of a crossroads, there is a rebuild to be done, because those performances are proving that."
Next up for Spurs is a Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest, and they could be out of the top four by the time they kick off. Liverpool closed the gap to three points by beating Man Utd last time out, and Jurgen Klopp's side travel to Bournemouth in Saturday's early kick-off.
Conte praised the commitment of his players against Milan, and suggested it was a step forward after last season. However, it was the third game in a row in all competitions where his team have failed to score.
"We played in the Europa Conference League last year and weren't able to get out of the group stages," the Italian said. "Now we took a step forward but it is not enough and if we want to be competitive, we have to fight."
