Manchester City captain Kyle Walker has recalled the emotional toll of a heavy defeat to Liverpool that once left him and his Tottenham Hotspur teammates in tears.
The loss ultimately led to the sacking of their manager, Andre Villas-Boas.
At the time, Walker was still playing for Spurs when they suffered a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool at White Hart Lane in December 2013.
Luis Suarez netted twice for Brendan Rodgers’ side, with additional goals from Jordan Henderson, Jon Flanagan, and Raheem Sterling sealing a dominant win in North London.
Spurs were reduced to 10 men when Paulinho was sent off just after the hour mark, with the score at 2-0.
The defeat marked the end of Villas-Boas’ tenure at Tottenham.
Despite being on a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions prior to the match, the pressure had been mounting on the Portuguese coach, especially following a 6-0 defeat to Manchester City just three weeks earlier.
Spurs, who had struggled since selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, were in seventh place, eight points behind league leaders Arsenal.
Villas-Boas was sacked less than 24 hours after the final whistle.
Recalling the moment the squad learned of the manager’s dismissal, Walker revealed that Villas-Boas became emotional when addressing the players, even bursting into tears.
The England international admitted that he and several teammates also began crying, moved by the situation and the departure of their manager.
“He was just so, so nice. He was so nice and sometimes I think that probably killed him,” he admitted on his BBC podcast, ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker’.
“He was too nice.
“I can remember when he left, and I will never forget it, 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’s just like he can’t stop crying.
“He’s emotionally crying, because that is how much he meant to the lads.
“Now 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.”
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