A huge mess, the worst thing that could have happened. Perhaps he would have used a more peppery expression. The legendary goalkeeper of Slavia Martin Vaniak (55), who was nicknamed the wizard, has just such comparisons for the performance of Antonín Kinski (22) in the Champions League match at Atlético Madrid (2:5). After two big mistakes and three conceded goals, Tottenham’s Czech goalkeeper finished the game in the 17th minute. “I would let him catch the match, this is how the coach killed Tonda. I am not excusing Kinski, the match goes to him, but the coach is to blame,” Vaniak says openly to Livesport Zprávy.
What did you say about Tuesday’s match and Kinski’s performance?
“I didn’t even see the whole match, those seventeen minutes were enough for me. It was very unfortunate on the part of Tonda Kinski. For me, it just confirmed that he doesn’t have a good position in the club. After all, Tottenham didn’t do well for a long time, and so did the number one goalkeeper, and Tonda didn’t get a chance. They didn’t put him in the goal. On the other hand, the fact that he didn’t catch is not an excuse for what happened in Madrid.”
And when the chance came, Kinský lasted only seventeen minutes in goal, even though he made mistakes of course. Many experts blame coach Tudor for this. what about you
“I would also leave Kinski in goal. Tudor killed the goalkeeper with this move. He was only training Tonda, it seems to me that he didn’t feel that the coach believed in him. Now it will turn out that Tonda will be put in a drawer and he will probably end up in Tottenham instead of me. He will have to go on loan and ask for a chance elsewhere. I don’t really count on him getting a chance in Tottenham. Even the fans will be strict.”
Do you think Kinský should have caught a match in the Premier League before the Champions League?
“For me, the coach should have used him in a league match. I repeat, I don’t want to apologize to Tonda, but he certainly felt that Tottenham didn’t do well and he didn’t get into the goal anyway. But he has himself to blame for the fact that the game in Madrid didn’t go well. He made mistakes. The first one, if he was lucky, might not have ended in a goal. But the third goal is clearly behind him. It’s a paradox that Tonda is otherwise great with his feet.”
That’s why it probably didn’t surprise anyone that he went into the game…
“However, if you lose 0:2 after a few minutes and the opponent spins you, then you simply have to play the ball with one foot when your team is down. Maybe it is also due to age, when he turns thirty, he will definitely solve it differently. What happened is pr..r.”
When Kinský was supposed to start in the Champions League, wasn’t it more feasible to use him against “his” Slavia?
“This is exactly what I thought would happen. I believed in it. And maybe also because of the results Slavia had in the Champions League, Tonda would have been caught against his team. But the coach sent him into the game when the team was in shit. I say again that this match, i.e. his fifteen minutes, goes to Tonda, but the rest is the coach’s business. He threw him into the water for a very difficult match.”
“It was necessary to protect Kinsky and the team.” ????
Tottenham coach Igor Tudor spoke at the post-match press conference about replacing the Czech goalkeeper. #NovaSport | #UCL pic.twitter.com/0QkLI7XQ12
— Nova Sport (@novasport_cz) March 11, 2026
It is said that Kinsky is very self-confident. Will this pressure hold up and how do you think it will end?
“From one point of view, this moment can also help Tonda grow, because he will get a lot of trouble. But for me, it will all end with him leaving the club on loan elsewhere. And probably outside of England. I would see it on the path chosen by the other Czech goalkeepers Kovář and Jaroš, who work in the Netherlands. It didn’t work out in Madrid, but Tonda is a skilled and good goalkeeper who should have evaluated it differently now in the Champions League.”
Anyway, he’s probably going to have another long break, he’s going to have a hard time judging by the reactions of fans on the internet…
“If Tonda caught the whole game, it ended 3-0 and this didn’t happen, then you probably wouldn’t be calling either. This was a shock to everyone, what happened. What the coach did, he killed him. I thought he didn’t sit well with the coach. And as for the fans, being Tonda, I’d rather not even go out on the streets much now, I wouldn’t show up anywhere.”
