Alan Shearer was scathing in his criticism of Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky after his blunder led to Aston Villa's opening goal in their FA Cup defeat on Sunday. Spurs' troubled season continued with a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park, where Unai Emery's side took the lead in the first minute through Jacob Ramsey's shot, which slipped through Kinsky's hands.
Although Kinsky got a hand to the ball, he could only watch in agony as it hit the net, giving Tottenham a disastrous start. It was a glaring error, and Kinsky will be aware that he should have made the save, especially after conceding a penalty in the 4-0 midweek loss to Liverpool.
Shearer, commentating on the match, slammed Kinsky's "howler" and insisted he "had to do better". The Match of the Day pundit said: "What on earth is he doing?" Former Tottenham goalkeeper Joe Hart also criticised Kinsky during the half-time analysis as part of the BBC coverage, suggesting he was playing on emotion, reports the Mirror.
"He came in against Liverpool, free, young," Hart said. "I've just seen the pressure and weight of the Tottenham team culminate with him [making the mistake]. It's an emotion. He just wants that ball away from him. There's no doubt he can save that ball, but he wanted it away from him and rushed it. He's a good goalkeeper with great potential."
Shearer had to eat his words following a series of spectacular one-on-one saves from Kinsky, particularly against Ramsey and Morgan Rogers. "He's shown good character since then (the error). Absolutely," the former Newcastle man admitted.
Spurs purchased Kinsky from Slavia Prague during the January transfer window and the 21-year-old has been ever-present over the past four or so weeks. The club's main shot-stopper Guglielmo Vicario has been sidelined for nearly four months due to a broken ankle, but is expected to make his return in the near future.
Vicario is one of a number of Tottenham players who are currently injured, which has been one of the major factors in Tottenham's poor form this season. This has led to Ange Postecoglou becoming under pressure amid calls he could be sacked if results do not improve.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Postecoglou said: "But for two-and-a-half months, this small group of players have given everything in multiple competitions. I think they’ve been outstanding. We had 11 first-team players missing today.
"We started with four teenagers, a 21-year-old goalkeeper coming to one of the best teams in the country, away from home. After playing the best team in the country on Thursday night. After playing a Premier League game last Sunday, playing a Europa game [before that]. The same group of players. No rotation. And they’ve been doing this since the middle of November.
"I think they’ve given everything they can and I’ve got so much respect and admiration for the players and how they’ve gone about that. We get a couple of midweeks off now, great for them to recover. We’ll get some players back which is also great for this group that they’ll get some help. And we move on."
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