Steve McManaman slams 'shocking' Tottenham defending in Bodo/Glimt draw

Steve McManaman slams 'shocking' Tottenham defending in Bodo/Glimt draw - 'If you watched your Under 19s do this, you'd go crazy'

Published 30/09/2025 at 23:49 GMT+1

Tottenham breathed a huge sigh of relief as they escaped from Norway with a point they scarcely deserved having been outplayed for large parts of their UEFA Champions League encounter with Bodo/Glimt. With a third of the contest remaining, they trailed 2-0 with Jens Petter Hauge's second finish of the night the result of "shocking" defending, according to TNT Sports pundit Steve McMananam.

‘If the under-18 team did this you’d go crazy’ – McManaman blasts Spurs over 'awful goal'

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Jostein Gundersen's unfortunate own goal salvaged a late point for Tottenham in the first UEFA Champions League game ever played inside the Arctic Circle, but Thomas Frank's side didn't escape the wrath of Steve McMananam after poor defending left them with a mountain to climb against Bodo/Glimt.

Spurs hauled themselves back from 2-0 down for the second time during Thomas Frank's short tenure in charge to secure a 2-2 draw, having already done so earlier this month against Brighton & Hove Albion.

It looked unlikely after Jens Petter Hauge followed up a fine curling finish by cutting inside to lash in his second after 66 minutes.

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The lead up to the second goal, however, left TNT Sports pundit McManaman far from impressed.

"If you watched your Under 19s do this, you'd go crazy," McManaman said.

"I have no idea what Djed Spence is doing in the build-up. Not a defensive bone in his body. A goal like this to concede is shocking in a Champions League game."

Highlights: Spurs fight back to earn dramatic draw at Bodo/Glimt

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McManaman continued: "Spurs were second best. Bodo missed a host of chances but couldn't convert to get away from Tottenham.

"They rescued a point and that's all that matters. When you look at the home games they've got coming up, they're all winnable.

"They should get maximum points at home and if they can pick up one or two on the road, that should be enough."

Hoddle: Spurs already have Frank resilience

'Last year if we were average, we'd lose 3-0', says Hoddle on Spurs

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Captain Micky van de Ven hauled Spurs back into the contest with a fine header from Pedro Porro's cross but when Wilson Odobert slammed an effort against the angle of the crossbar and post, it looked like the hosts were heading for a famous victory.

They were undone by a slice of misfortune, however, as goalkeeper Nikita Haikin blocked a shot from Archie Grey that bounced off substitute Gundersen and flew into the net for a late equaliser.

"It's an ingredient Thomas Frank had at Brentford, where they stuck in games," former Tottenham midfielder Glenn Hoddle told TNT Sports.

"They believed in themselves and they got late goals. Tonight, they were second best in most areas of the pitch but they were gritty. You can't always play pretty.

"That's a great point to pick up away from home at a difficult place to play. Bodo played at around 9 out of 10, they functioned well, defended well and scored two great goals.

Richarlison gets 'telling touch' as Spurs grab late equaliser at Bodo/Glimt

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"But they've come off the pitch and haven't won. That shows you the strength of Tottenham now. They can play resiliently and still pick up a point.

"What Spurs fans will be looking at is that last year if they performed average and were too easy to play against, they would lose 2-0 or 3-0.

"You can't outplay teams every week for 90 minutes and outscore them, to be consistent you have to stick in there. They did not look vulnerable defensively apart from the self-inflicted errors.

"They dragged themselves over the line to get a point in the end."

Frank: I'm in no doubt we'll improve

Bodo had 18 shots compared to Tottenham's eight, while they also enjoyed more possession and had more touches in the opposition box.

The result leaves Spurs in fourth position in the nascent Champions League table, with four points from their opening two games, but Frank knows his side must improve if they are to secure automatic qualification for the last 16.

"I think in the first half, it was definitely something that we could have kept the ball a bit better," the Spurs boss told TNT Sports.

Frank impressed with Spurs 'mentality, character'

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"I don't think it was only on Richarlison. I think it was probably a little bit of the structure of the team where we could have kept the ball better in certain situations. But I'm not in doubt that it will improve."

"The mentality and the character of the players was very good. We stayed in the game, kept fighting, and that gave us a very good point away from home.

"When you're 2-0 down in a Champions League game, and especially against a Bodo team that is very good here, they need to be happy with that, so I'm happy that we again got back into the game.

"I think it's extremely important that we got back from 2-0 down against Brighton, we got back against Wolves, we got back again today.

"It's hugely important that we show that mentality and keep running, keep fighting hard because you need to do that in football. No matter if you are on top of the game, sometimes the team can score out of nothing."

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