Ramos praise for 'perfect' Spurs

Ramos has heaped praise on his players

Tottenham boss Juande Ramos hailed his side's 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal as they secured a Carling Cup final place.

Spurs won 6-2 on aggregate as they beat their arch rivals for the first time since November 1999.

"In order to beat a team like Arsenal, you have to play well," said Ramos. "We didn't make mistakes and were perfect in all areas of the team.

"The effort that the players have put in to reach this final means they are the architects of this victory."

Interview: Tottenham assistant coach Gus Poyet

Interview: Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

Ramos took over from former Spurs boss Martin Jol in October and has led the club to a final in his first season.

"It makes me tremendously happy that the fans are happy with my work and with the team - but the architects of this were the footballers themselves," he said.

606: DEBATE How good was this result for Spurs?

"They're the people putting in the effort on the pitch. In the time that I've been here, there's recognition of what we're doing and that's very pleasing.

"To get to a final in such a short period of time since I came here is a fantastic achievement. More so for the fans, who are tremendously happy.

"It's been a long time since they've had a flavour of a final.

"It's tremendously satisfying, more so because they are a direct rival from the same city and, add to that the fact that we hadn't beaten them for so long... and add to that the scoreline. It's all the more satisfying."

Jermaine Jenas and a Nicolas Bendtner own goal had put Spurs 2-0 up at the break but Ramos and assistant boss Gus Poyet warned their players they could not take their foot off the pedal.

Spurs were pegged back from the same scoreline by Arsenal in the Carling Cup semi-final last season.

Poyet also said Spurs had something to prove after being beaten 2-1 in the Premier League in December and the 1-1 draw in the first leg.

We were always running after the score, taking risks and being at risk to the counter Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

Arsenal tempers appeared to boil over when striker Nicolas Bendtner appeared to argue with team-mates Emmanuel Adebayor and William Gallas.

But Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said: "I haven't seen that. I don't know anything about it. I don't know what you're talking about."

Wenger defended his policy to field his youngsters in the competition and said: "The only regret I have is to have played the players who should not have played.

"I'd rather have had a completely young side, but it was good for us to see.

"We go into every season with that priority in terms of the competition. They have potential."

Wenger insisted his players would bounce back and added: "It is a disappointment because we lost, of course.

"I feel that everything went against us.

"We were always running after the score, taking risks and being at risk to the counter.

"We were not mature enough to stop the counter-attacking.

"The score is very brutal, but doesn't reflect what I've seen on the pitch."