‘If It Hasn’t Been Mentioned’ – Ex-PL Star Blasts Tottenham’s Goalkeeping Coaches For Potential Key Error | OneFootball

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Former defender Scott Minto believes that it is an ‘absolute dereliction of duty’ on the part of the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeping coaches if they failed to tell Antonin Kinsky to change his studs following the pre-Atletico Madrid game warm-up.

Kinsky had a horror show on the night in Madrid as he slipped twice to gift Atletico Madrid two goals in the space of nine minutes in the Champions League last 16 clash.

His performance left manager Igor Tudor so unimpressed that the Croatian substituted him after just 17 minutes, turning it into a night to forget for the 22-year-old goalkeeper.

The match, which eventually ended with a 5-2 scoreline, putting Tottenham’s chances of progressing in the Champions League in jeopardy, yet again proved Dean Ashton’s predictions about Tottenham’s goalkeeper situation right.

Minto feels that the Tottenham goalkeeping staff, which consists of Fabian Otte, Dean Brill and Tomislav Rogic, should be questioned if they failed to tell the goalkeeper to get his studs right after getting a close view of the pitch before the match during the warm-up.

The 54-year-old went to the extent of terming it a ‘serious dereliction of duty’ on the part of the goalkeeping staff if that indeed happened, given the slippy pitch surface.

“You can’t make mistakes like that, be 3-0 down after 15 minutes and expect to win the game. It is an absolutely schoolboy error”, Minto said on talkSPORT (10th March, 21:43).

“If Kinsky hasn’t gone in after slipping over in the warm-up and changed his studs, if it hasn’t been mentioned by the goalkeeping coaches who have been out there that ‘you make sure the studs are alright’, then it is absolutely a dereliction of duty.

“If they have and we’ve seen Atletico players slipping over as well, then it is very bad pitch, but you always play to the conditions.  

“Just horrendous mistakes, you cannot at any level give away silly goals like that.”

Tottenham had the opportunity to offload Kinsky in January with fellow relegation battlers West Ham showing interest in the young goalkeeper, but they closed the door on his exit, insisting that Kinsky was a key part of the squad.

The early substitution could have done huge damage to Kinsky’s confidence and where it leaves him at Tottenham is unclear.