Igor Tudor 'did give Antonin Kinsky a hug' but Tottenham boss doubles down on ruthless call

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Tottenham boss Igor Tudor is set to recall Guglielmo Vicario in place of Antonin Kinsky after the latter’s brutal substitution vs Atletico Madrid. The Czech goalkeeper was hauled off after just 17 minutes in Spain following a couple of high-profile errors.

He walked straight down the tunnel after his exit from the pitch and did not even acknowledge Tudor. Asked about his dilemma about the goalkeeping position ahead of this weekend’s clash against reigning Premier League champions Liverpool , he revealed that he had words with Kinsky in the dressing room.

“When you make this decision to change, you always lose,” Tudor said. “When you do that substitution after 15 minutes, the coach loses in both cases.

“First case, because you put him in so everyone says, ‘Why are you doing this? You killed the guy.’ If you don’t, you are taking a risk to concede one or two more goals. I would do the same again. It was an act of helping to preserve the guy and to preserve the team.

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“Why didn’t I go to give him hug? Because maybe he was angry. Maybe coaches do the things to avoid this scene and to get a situation worse than it was.

“Sometimes it is better to stay there and we hug each other at half-time. At half-time we speak and nothing [more], the situation finished there.”

And while Tudor appears to have smoothed things over with Kinsky, the Spurs boss has confirmed that Vicario will return between the sticks against Liverpool. Speaking about the Italian, he said: “He is good. He wasn’t dropped, never. Why has he been dropped? It was Toni [Kinsky] in the goal for that game [Atletico]. Normal situation.”

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Regardless of who has played in goal, Spurs have endured a dismal season. Ahead of Sunday’s showdown with Liverpool, the North London side sit 16th and just one point above the relegation zone.

They are also without a win in the Premier League since late December. “It looks like the whole world is against us and the facts demonstrate this is true so what can you do?” Tudor added.

“Nothing. Accept this, keep working, stay calm, keep working more, don’t lose your head, wait until the players come back to be more complete.

“Then will come the decisive games because this relegation battle will be decided in the last games. I don’t know how much, but it will be decided there. And when these battles come, we need to be ready. That I believe 100 per cent, so our goal is to keep working, wait for this moment and be ready.”

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