LIVE
...

Follow us on

Soccer News

Tottenham boss Pochettino may have cranked up the pressure on Kane

Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images
Follow us on Google Discover

The Tottenham Hotspur boss has come under fire after losing three straight games for the first time – all games where Kane failed to score.

Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur embrace during the Group B match of the UEFA Champions League between FC Internazionale and Tottenham...

It’s difficult to decide who has the spotlight shining on them brightest at Tottenham Hotspur right now: Harry Kane or Mauricio Pochettino.

The star player and the manager have both been questioned over the last three games that have seen Spurs suffer three disappointing defeats – first away at Watford before the international break, then losing to Liverpool and Internazionale in the space of four days.

Kane hasn’t scored in any of those games, even blowing a golden opportunity against Inter that would have put his team ahead, bringing about accusations of him being unfit or that there is simply too much pressure on him right now.

Son Heung-Min’s time away at the Asian Cup left Spurs without the player who stepped in when Kane was injured last season, while an injury to Dele Alli ruled him out of the last two games, again leaving Kane as the sole reliable goalscorer in the team.

And with their being undoubted pressure on Kane right now, Pochettino’s choice of words ahead of the weekend’s meeting with Brighton will do nothing to alleviate it.

“Harry Kane is one of the best players we have, that is no doubt,” said the Spurs boss, according to the Independent.

“After three games it is not much, it is only three games he hasn’t scored.

Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur rounds Samir Handanovic of Internazionale during the Group B match of the UEFA Champions League between FC Internazionale and Tottenham Hotspur at San Siro...

“All strikers suffer some periods when they don’t score. But Harry Kane is so important that if he doesn’t score we sometimes don’t win.”

You’d have to assume that Pochettino feels Kane will handle that kind of dependency well, otherwise it appears a bizarre decision to actively promote the idea that they need him to perform right now.

Perhaps the England captain will bounce back against Brighton this weekend and Pochettino looks like a genius for putting extra responsibility on Kane – but it could very easily go the other way.

Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur looks during the Group B match of the UEFA Champions League between FC Internazionale and Tottenham Hotspur at San Siro Stadium on September 18, 2018 in...