‘Incredible situation’: Tottenham Hotspur coach Igor Tudor on subbing goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky after errors
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Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky looking dejected after Atletico Madrid's Marcos Llorente scores their first goal at the Metropolitano on March 10.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MADRID – Tottenham Hotspur’s interim manager Igor Tudor bemoaned an “incredible situation” which led him to withdraw goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky after just 17 minutes of their 5-2 Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid on March 10.
The 22-year-old Czech shot-stopper made two errors leading to goals, as Spurs fell three behind inside the first 15 minutes of the last-16, first-leg clash at the Estadio Metropolitano.
Tudor selected Kinsky, who had not played since October, over Guglielmo Vicario after five straight Premier League defeats before the game.
“(The situation was) very rare. I’ve been coaching for 15 years, I’ve never done this. It was necessary to preserve the guy, preserve the team,” Tudor told reporters.
The Croatian coach also defended his decision to start Kinsky.
“It was, before the game, the right choice to do in the moment like we are. With pressure on Vicario, in another competition... ‘Tony’ is a very good goalkeeper. It was, for me, the right decision,” he said.
“After this, of course, it’s easy to say that it was not the right decision.”
Kinsky slipped and gave the ball away in the sixth minute for Marcos Llorente to open the scoring.
After Micky van de Ven fell over, allowing Antoine Griezmann to score the second, Kinsky erred again. The goalkeeper bungled a pass and Julian Alvarez was able to walk the ball into the net.
Tudor sent on Vicario to replace Kinsky, who was applauded off by Atletico’s fans.
“Unfortunately, it happened in this big game, these mistakes. So we paid (for) this start of the game, it was too much for us,” continued Tudor.
“(Kinsky) was sorry... the team is with him, me too. I was speaking with him. He understands the moment, he understands why he goes out. As I said before, he’s a very good goalkeeper. We are with him, we are all together. It’s never about one player.”
Alvarez netted twice for Diego Simeone’s side, with Robin le Normand the other scorer for Atletico. Pedro Porro and Dominic Solanke netted for Spurs.
Tudor, who has lost all four matches at the helm since replacing Thomas Frank in February, refused to say whether he should still be at the helm.
Tottenham, 16th in the Premier League, are facing a fight against relegation.
“I need to keep working, stay focused on the things we can do,” he insisted. “I’m focused on the problems, the players also. We need to stay positive.”
In another match, Bayern Munich crushed hosts Atalanta 6-1 with a devastating display that left the Italian side shell-shocked before the interval.
The German giants seized control from the outset and never looked back, racing to a three-goal lead within 25 minutes as their aggressive attacking play overwhelmed their opponents, who never managed to gain a foothold in the match.
While the result was emphatic, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany refused to get carried away ahead of next week’s return leg at the Allianz Arena.
“There is still the second leg to play, so we have to stay focused,” he said. “You can’t predict a result like this. I thought it would be really tough, but the players had a fantastic night.
“Everyone played with great pride and created a lot by playing to our strengths.” REUTERS, AFP
