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This article is part of Football FanCast's Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers...

Danny Mills has given his verdict on Spurs’ dramatic draw at Man City, and it makes an awful lot more sense than some of the ridiculous views tossed out this week.

What's the word?

Spurs fans have been understandably irked by some of the commentary on their 2-2 draw at the Etihad, as Paul Merson blasted Mauricio Pochettino’s side’s performance, saying they took an “absolute battering”.

Mills has taken a more measured approach than the former Gunner however, telling Football Insider: “I think it was without a doubt nine outfield players plus the goalkeeper (behind the ball) at times. Manchester City are very, very strong at home, the dominate possession, pass the ball around.

“I think at one stage the stats were 75% possession (for City), which is incredible for a team that is trying to challenge for third, possibly even higher, in the Premier League.

"They got absolutely battered, chance after chance, couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. You have to say Tottenham came good.”

About time

Until the last three words, you probably thought Mills was delivering an identical verdict to Merson, but his final comment seems to have been missed by so many in the aftermath of the match.

For all the talk of City’s dominance, Pochettino’s bus parking and of course the VAR controversy, everyone seems to have forgotten the 11 players that went out there and wore their hearts on their sleeves for 90 minutes.

Davinson Sanchez for example recorded a whopping eight clearances, while Tanguy Ndombele made five tackles and Toby Alderweireld blocked three shots, all per Whoscored.

Spurs deserve to be praised for their defensive effort, not chastised. Taking a point from a rival’s ground where you had your backs against the wall for the entire 90 minutes isn’t a weakness, it’s a strength.

Both City and Liverpool won several games by very small margins towards the end of last season, and ‘winning ugly’ is often considered one of the hallmarks of a title contender. So much so in fact, the Reds were actually praised several times last season for exactly that.

It's hypocrisy at its finest, and as Mills correctly said, Tottenham came good on Saturday evening - it’s about time someone had the guts to say it.

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