Jamie Carragher has been left aghast at Ange Postecoglou's suggestion his Tottenham side played well in defeat to Chelsea.
Spurs crumbled as they fell to a 4-3 defeat having earned a two-goal advantage in the opening half. The Lilywhites conceded two penalties as Enzo Maresca's team were allowed back into the match after Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevksi opened the scoring following errors from Marc Cucurella.
Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr each conceded a penalty in the second period at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with rash and costly challenges. Cole Palmer dispatched both, as Jadon Sancho and Enzo Fernandez also found the back of the net, to ensure Son Heung-min's goal counted for little.
Former Liverpool defender Carragher was in disbelief at the suggestion Spurs played well despite conceding four goals. The ex-central defender rubbished the notion that teams should not adapt their way of playing.
"Ange said how well they played. I can't imagine any Liverpool manager I played for - and we conceded four in a game - would say in the interview we played well," Carragher said on Sky Sports. "If you play this way you'll get the result like at Manchester City but you'd also get results like this one where you're 2-0 up. I've never got my head around managers saying we play a 'certain way and we will never change' - I think it started with Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.
"This idea that wherever they play, they will play their way. But that was the best team I've ever seen. Pep Guardiola then had to change his Man City team who were winning the leagues every season, putting centre-backs at full-back. This idea that you can't change is alien to me. The game-state dictates how you play, not all the time but if you go away to a tough away ground you shouldn't play the same way as you do against a team at the bottom.
"There's this idea of playing a pure game and the Tottenham fans singing 'We've got our Tottenham back' but you won't win anything, you won't challenge.
"I wake up every morning hoping the sun is shining, so I can put some shorts and a T-shirt on but if it's raining, you put your coat on. You can't have this idea about playing one way, it won't work. If it doesn't change, he won't be here next season."
Postecoglou did admit his team need to show more discipline. The Australian manager was pleased with his side's improvement from defeat to Bournemouth, but acknowledged key moments cost them.
We started really well and then we lose Cristian Romero - nothing has run smoothly for us and we have to reshuffle before they get a goal. I thought we had big moments to get a third. Second-half was a ding-dong and we had a big chance with Son to swing the game our way. Then the two penalties weren't great on our behalf - we need more discipline in the box.
"We didn't play well against Bournemouth but we played well today. They're a good side. A top team. We got disrupted in key moments and the key moments decided the game.
"When we are playing our football we are tough to stop and we need to maintain our discipline. There was no need for them as the game was in the balance. When you play these top teams these momentum shifts can happen quickly."