Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NO BUYING & WE’RE FLYING
Kane: The lack of signings proved to the squad that manager really believes in us all... now it is our job to repay that faith
HARRY KANE claims Tottenham’s failure to add to their squad has given the players a massive lift.
Spurs earned Mauricio Pochettino (right) his first Premier League win in five attempts at Manchester United with their thumping 3-0 win on Monday night.
As well as piling the pressure on beleaguered Reds boss Jose Mourinho, it maintained second-placed Tottenham’s 100 per cent start to the season.
Much was made of the London side’s inaction over the summer, the first time a Premier
League side has failed to sign a player since the transfer window was introduced. But England striker Kane, who scored the opener in the rout of United, said the lack of new arrivals had given him and his team-mates renewed belief in their value to the squad. “That’s what happens,” said Kane.
“The gaffer said he’s not going to bring in players just for the sake of it. What that does is give the rest of the squad huge belief because it shows he has belief in us, so now we have to repay him for that and repay the club too.”
Lucas Moura scored twice at Old Trafford, and Kane reckons the Brazilian has fed off the growing confidence in the squad, saying: “He is one of the players some fans would have wondered ‘is he going to stay, is he going to go?’
“He’s stayed and he’s worked hard and he’s deserved his place in the team. He wants to keep his place and we all do.
“The competition for places is high and we’ve just got to keep it going.
“We’ve maybe fallen behind at the start of the season over the last few years so this time we have to stay up there from the very start.
“The only way to do that is to come here and win and win all the other big games as well. It’s been a great start for us. We are not getting too carried away because it’s only three games in, but it’s what we needed. We needed to start the season well and now it’s about maintaining that for the rest of the year.”
Kane, who has struggled to score in August in the past few seasons but who now has two goals to his name this month, said he had fully recovered from the exertions leading Gareth Southgate’s England to the World Cup semi-final in Russia earlier this summer.
“You’ve got to stay fit all year round nowadays, just because of the standard of the Premier League and the Champions League,” said Kane. “I feel good, I feel fine. “The gaffer is very good at managing us
and if he ever thinks I, or any of the other players who were at the World Cup, need a mental rest, he might give us a few days off here and there.
“It’s just the job of a professional footballer now. You’ve got to be ready to go all year round.” Under-fire goalkeeper Hugo Lloris kept the Spurs captaincy at Old Trafford despite his arrest for drinkdriving, with Kane praising the France World Cup-winning captain’s response to his transgression.
“Obviously he apologised to the team,” said Kane.
“He knows it wasn’t right what he did. Hugo’s a very good guy and he works very hard, so it’s been put to bed from our point of view.
“He’ll have to deal with whatever comes his way on the legal side but he kept his head down, he apologised, he worked hard, and he went out there and played well.”