Tottenham looked ‘awful’ in their home defeat by Aston Villa and could have been distracted by the talk surrounding Harry Kane‘s future, according to Micah Richards.
Spurs took the lead through Steven Bergwijn, but then a comical own goal from Sergio Reguilon and an Ollie Watkins strike after another mistake from the Spanish left-back sealed the win for the visitors.
The defeat saw Ryan Mason’s side drop out of the Premier League top six ahead of their final game of the league season away at Champions League-chasing Leicester City.
Tottenham looked ‘awful’ in their home defeat by Aston Villa, according to Micah Richards
Richards also suggested Spurs could have been distracted by talk of Harry Kane’s future
Star striker Kane went on a lap of honour in front of around 10,000 fans after the match in what could have been his final game in a Spurs shirt at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, having reportedly told the club he wants to leave in the summer.
And speaking to Sky Sports following their loss, Sportsmail columnist Richards was at a loss to explain why the north London outfit looked so poor, but hinted that the discussion about the England captain could have been a contributing factor.
‘They were awful, they started well. They got the goal through Bergwijn and they looked in control for the first 10 minutes,’ Richards said.
‘Then Reguilon did not have his best game if I am totally honest. It just felt flat today, I don’t know why, they had their fans in stadium and so maybe there was more expectation.
Sergio Reguilon scored an own goal and then gave the ball away for Villa’s second
But Richards was at a loss to explain why Spurs were so ‘flat’, but hinted at a Kane factor
‘Reguilon makes a mistake, not once, but twice, and the fans felt let down. Villa were really good, but Spurs were really bad. I don’t know if talk of Kane potentially leaving if it had an effect on the squad or confidence.
‘But Spurs were awful today. At least under Mason they have had a little bit of spirit and fight, but today there was none of that, which I was very surprised with to be honest.’
Fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp insisted that an agreement could already have been reached with a club for Kane to leave north London this summer.
But while acknowledging Daniel Levy will not sell the 27-year-old on the cheap simply because he has signalled his desire to leave, the former Spurs midfielder urged the chairman to sign ‘great players’ if their star man is sold.
Jamie Redknapp meanwhile called on Daniel Levy to sign ‘great players’ if Kane is sold
Tottenham signed seven players – including flops Paulinho, Vlad Chiriches, Etienne Capoue and Roberto Soldado – in 2013 after selling Gareth Bale for £86million to Real Madrid, and Redknapp warned the club they cannot afford to be as wasteful this summer should they receive a big fee for Kane.
‘I feel their pain, they have no manager, their star player wants to leave. It does not bode well for next season,’ Redknapp said.
‘The European Super League has not gone down very well. Daniel Levy has made a lot of mistakes, and it a huge summer for him as chairman of this club. He has to get the big decisions right.
‘When a player comes out saying he wants to go, that normally means there is something arranged. Harry Kane probably has a club he knows he can go to, there might be a gentleman’s agreement.
Redknapp (left) believes Spurs cannot afford a repeat of the seven players they signed after selling Gareth Bale (right) to Real Madrid in 2013
‘Levy won’t sell Kane for a cut price because he has said he wants to leave, so it will make for a very difficult summer for them,’ he continued.
‘But if they do sell him, they have to sign some great players to keep the fans happy. Last time they sold their star player in Gareth Bale, they ended up with a load of poor players that didn’t work out.
‘They can’t make the mistake like they did when Bale left last time, and bringing in five or six players who are not good enough.’
Tottenham’s seven signings made with the Gareth Bale windfall in the summer of 2013 – (left to right) Paulinho, Christian Eriksen, Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches and Erik Lamela