Gary Neville has blasted Spurs duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min for their “poor” performances against Manchester United on Saturday evening.
The Red Devils beat Antonio Conte’s side 3-2 courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick, with Kane netting a first-half penalty before Harry Maguire turned into his own net in the second period.
Neville, who was commentating on the match for Sky Sports, was highly critical of Spurs’ dynamic duo who this season passed the record for most joint goal involvements in Premier League history.
But that connection wasn’t near enough to see them overcome Ralf Ragnick’s United side, with neither Son nor Kane leaving much of an impact on the affair that leaves Spurs five points off the Champions League places.
“It’s worth mentioning the two best players,” said Neville.
“Son was always on his backside and Kane gave the ball away more than I’d ever seen. About five, six times in that last 20 minutes. So they were really poor.
“When they got back to 2-2 they should’ve won Spurs that game but they were poor.
“They had their worst period of the game. Conte will be saying I want more from you.”
Neville was also critical of how Spurs’ players employed the 3-5-2 formation that Conte has been known for throughout his career.
The system requires high-energy wing-backs that can go up and down the touchline as well as fiercely mobile central midfielders that have the ability to link play.
At times under his reign - like in the 3-2 win over Manchester City last month - Conte’s system works to a T. Against United though its merits were waylaid by Spurs’ inability to match their manager’s expectations.
"That system demands you have really good wing-backs and they’re nowhere near good enough,” added Neville.
"That system is critical on good wing-backs and Reguillon, Doherty on the right; quality isn’t there in both departments going forward and defensively.
"That’s a problem for them. If they had really good wingbacks, they’d be doing an awful lot better."
Speaking to BBC Sport after the game, Conte said: "We have to be very disappointed for the loss because I think after a good performance like this you deserve much more.
"This team has to continue to improve in many aspects. I think on the pitch the improvements are very clear because the team played in my opinion really good football and created chances to score.
"During the game, there are many parts of the game and you have to know when to push and stay calm and I think we have a lot of space to improve. For sure tonight we are to be disappointed for defeat but we will continue to work.”
