Owen Hargreaves comments on Joe Hart’s two mistakes for Tottenham Hotspur

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Owen Hargreaves has told BT Sport’s UEFA Europa League highlights show that Joe Hart will watch his mistakes back after Tottenham Hotspur drew with LASK in Austria – claiming he was Spurs’ best player until then.

Hart, 33, was handed his sixth appearance for Tottenham by Jose Mourinho on Thursday night. Spurs were expected to cruise into the knockout rounds, but the north Londoners struggled and went behind to LASK.

Even before the opener, Hart made a number of important saves but he failed to keep a long-range effort from Peter Michorl. Gareth Bale and Son Heung-min put Spurs 2-1 up, but LASK were not done – with Hart at fault again.

The former England stopper than tried to parry a speculative effort from Johannes Eggestein – but the ball spun off Hart’s arm into the net. He could do little about LASK’s third, and Hargreaves gave his verdict.

“During the start of the game, he was probably Tottenham’s best player. He made two very good saves,” Hargreaves said. “They were under pressure. Joe kept them in it. Joe is the ultimate pro, he will watch it back. The first one, the ball moves a ton but he will still expect to save it and the second one, too.”

TBR’s view – Hart will know he is capable of better

Certainly, Hart had impressed before Thursday night – conceding just four goals in his previous five appearances and helping Spurs keep two clean sheets. Jose Mourinho will also be aware that Hart was excellent to begin with.

But as Hargreaves states, Hart is an excellent professional and will watch the goals back. He will know that he can do a lot better with those goals – though the third is completely out of his reach. An improvement is required.

Could Paulo Gazzaniga feel aggrieved at being relegated to third choice behind £52,000-a-week (Spotrac) stopper Hart? Perhaps, but it is hardly going to change Mourinho’s mind.