A game that might be best remembered for the famous ‘Oh f*** off even Flanagan has scored’ Tweet is one that also triggered tears in the Tottenham dressing room, as Kyle Walker has revealed.
Allow us to take you back to December 15, 2013. Liverpool made the trip to White Hart Lane and put five unanswered goals beyond a hapless Tottenham side.
Luis Suarez scored twice and even Jon Flanagan got himself on the scoresheet in what was Spurs’ worst home defeat in 16 years – they did not even have a shot on target!
Just a day later, manager Andre Villas-Boas was sacked after barely 18 months in charge, and Walker has revealed there was a lot of crying in Tottenham‘s dressing room at the news.
Speaking on his BBC podcast, ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker‘, the ex-Spurs defender conceded the team did not do the Portuguese manager justice.
“I can remember when he left, and I will never forget it,” he said. “I swear to you, I will never, ever forget it. We were sat in the auditorium and we got wind that he was going.
“[Daniel] Levy sacked him, but he was still in the building and we were still ready to train. He came downstairs and started crying in front of us.
“He started crying in front of us, and I remember his assistant was telling him to pull it together. He started crying, I’ve got tears running down my eyes. A lot of the lads had tears.
“Michael Dawson is welling, he can’t stop crying. He’s emotionally crying because that is how much he meant to the lads.
“We probably didn’t do him justice on the pitch because that’s why he got the sack, but for 10-12 men to be crying because the manager has gone, he has done something well in the dressing room.
“Football aside, he’s emotionally connected with us as well. As a team, we probably let him down a bit.”
It was quite the chastening defeat for Tottenham, and just eight years later Villas-Boas would retire from management altogether to assume the role of Porto president, a title he attained this year.
Spurs have had six different permanent managers since Levy sacked Villas-Boas in 2015, plus a handful of caretakers.
The 5-0 drubbing really is a gift that keeps on giving.
