Jobi McAnuff has stated that Harry Kane looked ‘very dejected’ after he was substituted by Antonio Conte during Tottenham Hotspur’s EFL Cup exit at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night.
Tottenham were 2-0 down when Kane was hooked off by Conte on the hour mark, to the cheers of the home crowd, and the surprise of the others given that the north London club needed to get back into the game.
Perhaps it was pre-planned? At the end of the day, the 29-year-old has played non-stop this season.
Whilst the likes of Son Heung-min, Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski have either been rotated or benched, outside of their injuries this season, Kane has played 90+ minutes for every game, bar Fulham, Nottingham Forest and against Italy when repping England colours.
And, ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Kane is perhaps being overused and will continue to do so, as McAnuff responded to his sub yesterday on Soccer Special on Sky Sports (09/11/22 at 9:05 pm).
McAnuff stated: “There isn’t any injury concerns, it’s just because of the situation in the game. A triple substitution. I think he’s calling in the cover a little bit here, Antonio Conte. They are trying to get into the game, you would think you would want Kane on the pitch. But he has gone with other options and given Kane a little bit of rest.
“Harry Kane looked very dejected walking off. Not injury-related. But probably a bit pre-planned.”
KANE’S WORKLOAD
This surely has to be a worry for Spurs heading into the second half of the season because where will Kane be rested from now until the end of the season?
He is going to play every minute for England at the 2022 World Cup, return to domestic football, and get thrown straight into the action, including the Champions League knockout stages.
There is the chance of him being rested for the FA Cup, but Spurs will want to win that trophy, and unless they get a lower-league side, he will probably start those games also.
Either way, there doesn’t seem to be any let-up to Kane’s workload.
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