‘Miles off it’: Andy Townsend says one Tottenham player was woeful against Villa and it cost them

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Tottenham were beaten by Aston Villa in their opening fixture of 2023 as Unai Emery’s side came out 2-0 winners in north London.

Goals from Emi Buendia and then Douglas Luiz ensured Emery enjoyed a fine return to North London. For Spurs, it was the nightmare start to the year and Antonio Conte will have gone away thinking he needs some serious help in January.

Of course, Spurs are expected to back Conte in the market again. But realistically, the current Spurs crop need to be doing much better and that includes stars like Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.

And watching the game for PL Productions today, former Villa midfielder Andy Townsend felt that Harry Kane was miles off his level and that, in turn, affected the rest of the Tottenham team.

“Harry Kane has been miles off it today. And when that happens collectively, when you’ve got six or seven of you not at it, you haven’t got a hope,” Townsend said of Kane.

Kane had returned to Spurs earlier than expected after failing to get beyond the quarter-finals in the World Cup with England.

However, his performance level was low and Conte will be worried that there is an over-reliance on his number ten.

TBR’s View: Kane has to produce or Tottenham struggle

This is the same worry for Spurs every single season. If Harry Kane isn’t producing the goods then more often than not, they struggle to get anything from games.

Kane was way off it today as Townsend points out. Whether it’s just a bad day at the office or he is tired from the World Cup, remains to be seen.

For Spurs, they need players back. Richarlison and Kulusevski are massive losses, while the transfer market also has to be explored now by Conte and Paratici.