Gareth Southgate has hit back at Jose Mourinho after the Tottenham boss told him not to play Harry Kane in all three of England’s upcoming fixtures.
The Guardian quote the Three Lions boss as saying: ‘José was great, wasn’t he? He was on good form. I heard him.
‘He won’t phone but he’s going to stand at the top of Tottenham’s stadium and tell us, so that was good. I was a bit disappointed I’m not one of his friends.’
England take on Wales, Belgium and Denmark in the space of six days soon, and Mourinho was rightly concerned that Kane – who has already played six games this season – would suffer burnout by playing three more in quick succession.
While Southgate presumably won’t like being told what to do, he can’t begrudge the ex-Real Madrid boss for his comments too much.
After all, Kane has struggled hugely with fitness issues in recent seasons.
The Tottenham No.10 missed 16 games last season through injury, and could’ve been absent for more were it not for the pandemic bringing football to a halt.
The lethal marksman already has five club games to contend with during October, and the last thing he needs is for Southgate to play him in three more.
Especially when the ex-Middlesbrough boss has players such as the in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Marcus Rashford, Danny Ings and Tammy Abraham to choose from.
Perhaps Mourinho could’ve called Southgate in private to make his request regarding Kane, although surely, the England boss can’t be too upset by the Portuguese coach’s words for the aforementioned reasons.
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