Tottenham supporting pundit named Harry Kane in his team of the week.
Garth Crooks has told BBC Sport he believes Mauricio Pochettino was thinking long term when he named Harry Kane in the Champions League final starting line-up.
Crooks says despite this, he was ‘furious’ when he did it. Tottenham lost the game against Liverpool 2-0.
This weekend back in the Premier League, Spurs won 3-1, with Kane scoring his first ever goals in August.
His brace led to Crooks naming him in his BBC Team of the Week along with new teammate Tanguy Ndombele.
He said: “I was furious when Mauricio Pochettino played Harry Kane in the Champions League final but I understood why he did it. Leave your best player out of the biggest game in your club’s history and you can kiss goodbye to that relationship.
“Pochettino was clearly investing in something further down the line and payback started against Aston Villa. I can’t remember when I have seen two more beautifully-placed goals so gracefully stroked past a goalkeeper.”
Crooks’ point is interesting because Pochettino was making noises at the time about being undecided over his future.
Not many fans took these too seriously, and if the manager was thinking long term with his team selection, then it proves the point that he was never going to walk away.
Kane was coming off an injury at the time and was far from at his best and his performance showed it.
At the weekend he looked like he was getting back to his best, having been able to enjoy a summer rest.
Crooks went on to make a comparison to Robert Lewandowski.
He added: “There is something of Robert Lewandowski about Kane and I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if Bayern Munich were interested in the England captain replacing their scoring legend at some stage. Fortunately I don’t think they have the cash.”
He’s right. Tottenham would not look to sell Kane under almost any circumstance.
And fortunately, Bayern probably wouldn’t appeal to Kane much either.
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