‘Bottle job FC is back’ – Mesut Ozil mocks wasteful Tottenham; second Arsenal icon says Spurs are ‘back in their place’
Tottenham dropped another big three points with a defeat to West Ham on Thursday and their status as title challengers is under serious threat.
The 2-1 loss to the Hammers leaves Ange Postecoglou’s team in fifth place in the Premier League table – nine points adrift of their first-placed North London rivals Arsenal.
Tottenham have now gone five matches without a win, with injuries to key players such as James Maddison and Micky van de Ven having a big impact on their progress.
Mesut Ozil was quick to gloat about his former rival’s poor form, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that “Bottle job FC is back.”
Now, Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has brutally said that Spurs ‘have been put back in their place.’ with their title chances now dwindling.
Parlour told talkSPORT: “It’s early days and they got off to a brilliant start, but Spurs have been put back in their place a little bit if I’m honest.”
Sitting alongside him, Tottenham supporter and the club’s former midfielder Jamie O’Hara, was taken aback by the ‘harsh’ comment.
“They have a little bit,” Parlour explained. “You [fans] do get above yourselves a little bit when you start doing well. You could argue Arsenal do a little bit sometimes.”
Tottenham have led 1-0 in all of their past five games, before going on to lose or draw – becoming the first Premier League team to do so – which is particularly worrying for O’Hara.
“Spurs are so open,” O’Hara added. “Yeah it’s free flowing and great to watch and everyone’s jumped on the bandwagon.
“Spurs are playing brilliant football, but you’ve still got to win games. West Ham last night showed how to win big games.
“You see Man City and Arsenal doing it – ugly wins, wins that matter, and Spurs don’t look like they can do that, they look like they’re going to concede goals under pressure.”
Parlour commented: “You’re giving teams a chance and it’s all about that second goal, if you get that second goal last night the game’s over.”
Postecoglou relied upon Heung-min Son and Richarlison in attack last night, with the latter missing a close-range header that would’ve seen Tottenham retake the lead had it gone in.
Reports emerging today suggest that Postecoglou is now willing to part ways with Richarlison in January, despite outlets previously claiming he wouldn’t be for sale.
Parlour thinks that Tottenham are seriously missing Harry Kane, who signed for Bayern Munich on a £100m deal in the summer.
“Losing Harry Kane, as much as it was good money for the club and he was never going to sign a new contract, you’re still losing all those goals,” Parlour said.
“It’s always going to affect a team like Spurs, as much as you don’t want it to, it’s going to. Any team that loses those goals, it’s going to be a problem.”
O’Hara agreed, adding: “We missed Kane last night, we did.” He then called on Daniel Levy to bring in some new faces in January that can help Spurs climb the table.
“This is the problem Daniel Levy’s got,” O’Hara said. “Everyone loves the manager and the way we’re playing but in January he has to make some serious signings, it’s nowhere near good enough, this squad.”
Parlour then responded, by saying: “Do you trust him [Postecoglou] with a load of money? That’s the question you’ve got to ask if you’re the owner of a club.
“Most fans and neutrals like him so it’s time to give him some money and a chance now.
“It will be interesting to see what Levy does now after the past few years, now he’s got to compete for the top four and spend a bit of money.”
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