Paul Merson has criticised Tottenham Hotspur assistant head coach Cristian Stellini in The Daily Star for not having Harry Kane in the starting lineup against Sheffield United in the FA Cup in midweek.
The former Arsenal star has said that Kane is the main player at Tottenham.
The Sky Sports pundit believes that for Spurs to be successful, they need to have the 29-year-old striker in the starting lineup in games.
Premier League club Tottenham suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Championship outfit Sheffield United away from home in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday evening.
England international striker Kane started the match on the bench and came on in the 65th minute.
Paul Merson on Tottenham Hotspur and Harry Kane
Merson wrote: “I was listening to talkSPORT after Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United in the FA Cup and Jamie O’Hara was saying he was shocked by the result.
“I wasn’t shocked at all. I expected Spurs to win but if you don’t play Harry Kane you’re already behind the eight ball.
“Tottenham are Harry Kane. I’m not being horrible to the others players.
“Spurs got carried away beating Chelsea, it was one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen in 25 years from the Blues.
“You have to remember, Tottenham were thrashed 4-1 at Leicester a couple of weeks ago. So the Chelsea win was just papering over the cracks.”
In agreement
Sheffield United are doing well in the Championship and have a good team, but you would have still expected Tottenham Hotspur to win against the Blades.
You can understand why Spurs decided to leave Kane on the bench for the start of the tie.
However, the FA Cup is/was Tottenham’s only realistic chance of winning a major trophy this season.
And Kane is only 29 and can play two games in a week.
We believe that the striker should have started for Tottenham against the Blades.
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