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Tottenham Hotspur have been urged to leave Harry Kane on the bench in the Champions League final by BT Sports pundit Chris Sutton, per the Daily Mail.
What’s he said?
Kane, per The Guardian, has declared himself fit for this weekend’s clash between Spurs and Liverpool in Madrid.
He injured his ankle ligaments in the club’s quarter-final first leg win over Manchester City and has been absent since, missing nearly two months of football.
In his absence, Spurs beat City on away goals at the Etihad Stadium and also produced a miraculous comeback in the Netherlands to beat Ajax and reach the final; Lucas Moura scored a hat-trick in Amsterdam.
Sutton, thus, believes that the England captain should be left on the bench for this weekend’s game and maintains that the decision is simply “common sense”.
Writing in the Mail, he said: “Harry Kane should not start the Champions League final. It is simply too much of a risk for Tottenham in such a monumental match and manager Mauricio Pochettino must make a sensible decision rather than a sentimental one.
“Common sense must prevail. No matter what Kane says, there have to be doubts over his fitness.
“The striker’s last appearance for Spurs was against Manchester City on April 9 and on Monday he revealed he returned to first-team training at the end of last week.”
He added: “I can understand why Kane is putting himself forward and telling his manager he wants to play. What club captain wouldn’t?
“But Pochettino has to ask himself: would Kane’s inclusion in the starting line-up be in the best interest of the team?
“I don’t think it would. Who would Pochettino drop to make room for Kane too? Lucas Moura, whose hat-trick against Ajax in the semi-final second leg got them to this showdown with Liverpool?
“Son Heung-min, the versatile forward who has arguably been Spurs’ best player this season?
“Neither of those should be making way.”
Overthinking it
Kane is one of the best strikers in the world, if not the best. Tottenham can’t afford to overthink his selection.
At a base level, one can understand where Sutton is coming from; Kane is not necessarily match-fit and one has to doubt that he is completely sharp.
But you play your best players in the biggest games, regardless of whether or not Lucas scored a hat-trick against Ajax.
Kane has an otherworldly scoring record – he has netted a total of 164 goals in 252 games for the club.
If Mauricio Pochettino leaves him on the bench, he will be benching perhaps the finest striker Spurs have ever had.
It’s the Champions League final; if Kane is anything close to fit, he has to play.