Rio Ferdinand believes Tottenham have ‘no personality, no character and no leader’ after their limp performance in the defeat by Chelsea – and insists Jose Mourinho’s team look ‘aimless’ without talisman Harry Kane
- Tottenham put in an uninspiring first-half display to go 1-0 behind to Chelsea
- Spurs went in at the break chasing the game after Jorginho’s fierce penalty
- Jermaine Jenas and Rio Ferdinand slammed Spurs’ players at the half-time break
- Ex-Spurs man Jenas singled out Serge Aurier and Carlos Vinicius’ lack of desire
- Ferdinand claimed Spurs were lucky there were no fans inside the stadium
Rio Ferdinand has torn into Tottenham’s players and questioned their lack of ‘personality’ and ‘character’ after their defeat to rivals Chelsea.
Jose Mourinho’s side suffered a third consecutive loss in the Premier League with Jorginho’s first-half penalty, awarded after a clumsy foul from Eric Dier on Timo Werner, proving the difference.
BT Sport pundit Ferdinand did not hold back in savaging the performance on show from the hosts – and admitted the recent form from the former table toppers has now become a ‘worry’.
Jermaine Jenas and Rio Ferdinand savaged Tottenham’s performance in the defeat by Chelsea
Chelsea took all three points with Jorginho on target from the spot after Eric Dier’s poor tackle
He said: ‘It was an aimless performance. Nothing to it. No personality.
‘If Kane doesn’t play, the personality of this team is drained straight out of the team. No confidence, no character, no leader. Nobody driving the team.
‘Whether that’s the players or the manager who needs to drive this time, I think it’s a combination of both.
Ferdinand labelled Tottenham’s display on Thursday as ‘aimless’ and lacking in ‘personality’
‘We saw them against Brighton last week and Brighton looked like the team going for Champions League football. It’s worrying.
‘They are not far off the Champions League in terms of points, but they way they are performing of late is a worry.’
Fellow pundit Jermaine Jenas was equally scathing in his assessment of the limp display from his former club.
‘There’s no plan. That’s the problem,’ he insisted at half-time. ‘I’m looking at players who are scared, they don’t want to get on the ball. That’s the biggest crime you can make as a footballer.
Jenas reserved particular criticism for the body language on show from Tottenham’s players
‘Another big problem of theirs is their body language, it’s shocking.
‘Serge Aurier, standing around, doing nothing. Vinicius, do you want to help out and run into channels or come in? No, a lot of standing and watching. The players are not interested.’
Striker Vinicius was starting his first Premier League match for Spurs while talismanic forward Harry Kane recovers from an ankle problem.
Jenas criticised Serge Aurier (left) and Carlos Vinicius (right) for not wanting to get on the ball
The Brazilian forward touched the ball just 11 times in the opening 45 minutes – Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris managed more with 17.
Meanwhile, right-back Aurier was taken off by Mourinho after 45 minutes in Spurs’ 3-1 defeat to Liverpool last week, with the Ivorian angering his manager by storming out of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium during the interval.
Ferdinand also explained earlier that Tottenham’s players were fortunate there were no supporters in the ground after their struggles before the the break.
Chelsea went in 1-0 up at the half-way stage away at Tottenham thanks to Jorginho’s spot-kick
He added: ‘That Tottenham team and Jose are lucky there are no fans in that stadium. They would have been booed off. It’s been poor.
‘There’s no shape. Zero press on the ball. It’s like a testimonial for Chelsea, they are thinking: “how are we getting no pressure on the ball?”.
‘The Spurs team are just sitting there and relying on Son to create one moment in the game.
‘There’s no method behind any pattern of play in the game. They are like a team that had no idea what they are doing on the ball.’
Ferdinand also hit out at Dier (left) for his ‘silly’ challenge on Timo Werner for Chelsea’s penalty