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Jamie O’Hara says Tottenham are ‘so bad’ that £12m player was actually their best player vs Aston Villa

Srinivas Sadhanand

Mon 10 February 2025 6:15, UK

Not many of Tottenham Hotspur’s players stood tall and delivered in what was the biggest game of their season against Aston Villa as they eventually lost 2-1 in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup.

Mathys Tel restored a degree of pride for Tottenham as he scored a late consolation goal on his full debut for Spurs.

The Bayern Munich loanee’s strike would have given the visiting fans a reason to smile against Aston Villa.

Apart from Tel, Antonin Kinsky showed character against Unai Emery’s side after initially being at fault for Jacob Ramsey’s opening goal as he failed to parry a relatively tame strike that was straight down the middle.

Tottenham fans slated Kinsky’s error against Aston Villa as it did ultimately cost them on the night.

But in fairness to Kinsky, he also made plenty of saves to keep Ange Postecoglou and Co in the contest.

Antonin Kinsky named as Tottenham’s “best player” vs Aston Villa despite his error

Tottenham rate Kinsky very highly and despite his latest mishap, there is a gifted goalkeeper in the £12.5 million () man.

Kinsky has been tipped to join Real Madrid one day, which goes to show how talented he is.

But there is no disputing that the 21-year-old’s error against Aston Villa was a costly one for Tottenham and Jamie O’Hara claimed that the fact that he was Spurs’ standout performer in their latest outing sums up how poor they are.

“Kinsky has thrown one in the net and is still our best player, that’s how bad we are, it’s got beyond embarrassing now.”

Dominic Solanke lauded Kinsky immediately after his debut in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool and it seemed like Johan Lange had signed a brilliant young prospect.

Michael Vorm reckons Kinsky is “promising” as well but as a goalkeeper, all eyes will be on the Czech shotstopper every time he makes a mistake like he did against Aston Villa.

Guglielmo Vicario could regain Tottenham number one spot unless Antonin Kinsky improves

Kinsky was brought in to challenge Guglielmo Vicario, with the former Slavia Prague wonderkid viewed as a goalkeeper who could potentially even displace the Italian if he steps up to the plate.

Journalist Ben Jacobs revealed last month: “All the other ones you mentioned are effectively down the pecking order. [Brandon] Austin was excellent, arguably the man of the match against Newcastle, but he was very much forced into that spotlight.”

“What you will probably find once he settles is that with [Guglielmo] Vicario out, Kinsky gets some relatively imminent Premier League game time. So I expect him to be thrown straight into the deep end. To your point about his mentality, the feeling from Tottenham is he’s very strong-willed, he’s very vocal, he’s a good leader, he’ll fit in well in the dressing room.”

“So it should be a top signing and a steal at £12.5 million and as I say, Tottenham’s perspective is kind of, Vicario is the number one, but is he? Vicario is the number one when he’s fit, but could this kid challenge? So it’s not a case of one and two, it’s a case of, yeah, Vicario is probably the short term number one, but Tottenham really believe that Kinsky has the long term potential to either challenge or supplant him.”

However, Kinsky has looked far too suspect, such as failing to collect the ball for Jamie Vardy’s goal against Leicester City, letting Cody Gakpo’s near-post strike bypass him in the Carabao Cup and putting in a nervy display during the North London Derby as well.

Ange Postecoglou disclosed Kinsky is naturally confident and unless he taps into his seeming sense of self-belief by improving in the coming weeks, Vicario will instantly regain his spot as Tottenham’s number one.