Speaking on ESPN, Steve Nichol has been taken aback by the suggestion that Harry Kane’s recent good form for England is down to Antonio Conte banning tomato ketchup at Tottenham.
It was reported last week that Conte banned the condiment from Spurs’ canteen, and, to be fair, Kane has hit seven goals in two games since that point.
ESPN were keen to point out that Kane has hit form since Conte’s ban, but Nicol happens to believe that it’s a case of correlation rather than causation.
What’s been said?
Nicol got into a bit of a debate about the effect of the ketchup ban has had on Kane.
“Banning ketchup may have helped Harry Kane, ketchup and his tally this season,” the host said.
“Are you serious? You know what, it looks good on paper, it looks good in black and white, but if you say to Harry Kane in 10 years’ time, ‘do you remember those four goals against San Marino’ he won’t even remember them. What did they do? Did they pour tomato sauce on the ball so he’d chase after it faster!” Nicol said.
Ridiculous
Will banning ketchup have an impact on Spurs’ players? Potentially. Has this ban caused Kane to hit back-to-back hat-tricks for England? Well, it’s unlikely.
Without getting into the Sports Science side of things, it’s hard to believe that one week without ketchup has seen Kane hit a new level where he can’t stop scoring goals.
The fact of the matter is that San Marino and Andorra are two poor teams and Kane was getting plenty of chances.
Nicol is right to brand this idea as nothing but ridiculous.
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