FORMER England goalkeeper Paul Robinson says choosing “the hardest ball to play” led to Neto’s costly mistake in defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

The Brazilian’s attempted pass into Ryan Christie was picked off, before Pape Matar Sarr broke the deadlock in north London inside 10 minutes.

Heung-Min Son and Richarlison went on to also find the net for Spurs, before Alex Scott’s late consolation in a 3-1 defeat for Andoni Iraola’s men.

Assessing the game in his role as a pundit on BBC’s Match of the Day 2, ex-Spurs stopper Robinson said: “Bournemouth were excellent. I thought they played really well at times.

“They caused Spurs a lot of problems, particularly down Bournemouth’s left-hand side, some very, very good players.

“You can see the resurgence under the new manager. It took a while to get his ideas across to his players, to the way that he wanted to play. They were unlucky against Spurs.”

Discussing the opening goal, after which Neto raised his hand in acknowledgment of his error, Robinson added: “It just frustrates me, because goalkeepers are told to play from the back and that’s the way we play football now.

“The decision is almost taken away from them subconsciously. I get the way that they play, but the goalkeeper on the field has to be allowed to make a decision himself, rather than one that has already been put into his mind on the training ground.

“Neto on the ball has got so many different options of where he can go, but he chooses to go into Christie, who is marked tight by (Rodrigo) Bentancur. (Giovani) Lo Celso does really well, gets the ball to Pape Sarr, and even then, the Bournemouth defenders back off him.

“The goalkeeper chooses the hardest ball to play, a straight ball into midfield with a player at his back.

“Tottenham execute the press really well, but from a goalkeeper’s point of view, it is frustrating, because that is a situation where he will go, ‘that is what the manager wants me to do’.

“The manager will put his hand up and say ‘it’s okay, that will happen every now and then, I’ll take the blame for that because that’s how I want to play’.”

Fellow pundit Nedum Onuoha, formerly of Manchester City, added: “People try and play out from the back for a reason.

“In that instance with Neto, it’s more about the execution than the intent.

“We’ve seen other goalkeepers be able to make that pass, which breaks the lines and creates the attack.

“Bournemouth put three players up high, bring some defenders back and try and create some space, whereby they can create isolations.

“I believe he could’ve done that better, which is why he has attempted it.”