Van Hecke hits out at Tottenham teammate for Aston Villa blunder – ‘You’re down to 10 men’ | OneFootball

Jan Paul van Hecke has hit out at Andy Robertson for his blunder in Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.

Johan Manzambi, Nicolas Jackson and Emi Buendia scored the goals for Unai Emery’s side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in a result which leaves Roberto De Zerbi’s side bottom of the Premier League table with just two points from their opening five games of the season.

Robertson’s error led to the Villa opener as the former Liverpool star kept the ball in play with Micky van de Ven off the pitch, handing possession straight back to the visitors rather than conceding a corner, with Manzambi scoring seconds later.

It was a baffling decision by the Scotsman in any circumstance, but particularly given Spurs were down to 10 men at the time, and Van Hecke appears to be as confused as the rest of us.

“It couldn’t get any worse,” he told Dutch publication Algemeen Dagblad. “You know you’re down to 10 men. Then it’s smarter to kick the ball out, so you can wait until Micky gets back.”

Speaking generally about Spurs’ winless star after a £300m summer spend, Van Hecke admitted: “We had imagined it would be different. The way we play and concede goals is unacceptable.

“The way the energy drained away from the team is simply not right.”

Van Hecke in no place to criticise anyone

And Van Hecke himself, signed from Brighton for £52m, endured a difficult afternoon against Aston Villa and striker Jackson, who gave him a torrid time.

England legend Stuart Pearce was left unimpressed with what he saw from the Dutch international.

“What is Van Hecke doing? He sold himself completely,” Sam Matterface said on talkSPORT commentary.

Co-commentator Pearce agreed as he questioned Van Hecke’s big-money summer move from Brighton.

He replied: “He certainly did. Was that £52million worth of central defending?”

Matterface then added: “Honestly, I wish everybody could see the look on your face.”

Pearce responded: “Honestly, when he moved for the summer money that he did it raised an eyebrow or two in my head.

“And his performance today has done exactly that again.”