BLAST ... Heurelho Gomes has hit out at Harry Redknapp
Last Updated: 26th July 2012
HEURELHO GOMES has aimed a parting shot at former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp for making him feel ‘terrible’.
The Brazilian keeper made a couple of high-profile errors against Chelsea and Real Madrid last season — and it cost him dearly.
Redknapp brought in 40-year-old Brad Friedel and made him first choice at White Hart Lane — leaving Gomes sidelined.
Now the former PSV Eindhoven man has welcomed the arrival of new manager Andre Villas-Boas and hopes it could be an end to his hell in North London.
Gomes said: “Redknapp barely talked to me. I was playing really well when he hired Friedel. So I was really surprised and decided to ask him about that.
“Redknapp asked me to be calm, because I was his goalkeeper and he trusted me, as he told me. But that didn’t happen.
“In the 2010-11 season, I made only two mistakes but I didn’t give them so much importance and I didn’t think I was going to be sacked from the team because of that.”
Gomes reckons his old boss then blocked his chances of getting away from Tottenham to restart his career.
He said: “I asked Redknapp to let me go, but he said no to three offers for me. QPR, CSKA Moscow and Atletico Mineiro wanted me.
“I was close to CSKA because they wanted me only for four months and I was going to play the Champions League, but Redknapp didn’t allow me to leave.”
So Gomes was stuck on the bench for the big Premier League games and he admits it started to affect him.
He added: “People in England have different ways of doing things in football.
“For example, when a club like Tottenham buy you, you have to play really well. So if you play well, everything is OK.
“But if you don’t play well, they don’t don’t help you at all. That made me feel terrible.”
Gomes is now looking forward to a fresh start with Spurs and says he is happy to see out the final two years of his contract.
But he admits a return to South America would appeal if he ends up behind Friedel in the pecking order again this season.
He said: “I’m sure that Villas-Boas’ arrival is going to help me. He is great and he wants to do the best for Tottenham. I’m sure he will achieve many things here. I hope I could play in his team until 2014.
“I have two more years under contract at Spurs and I intend to fulfil them. But I’m tired of Europe, I have reached my limit here.
“I’m 31 years old and I’m thinking about moving back to Brazil.
“Atletico Mineiro wanted me, but Tottenham asked them to pay a fortune of £8million for me and the negotiation finished.”
Video : Vertonghen looking to settle quickly at Spurs
