I CALL HIM HERO KANE
JOSE IN AWE OF BRAVE HARRY
JOSE MOURINHO says Harry Kane should be renamed “Hero Kane” after his return from injury.
And the Spurs boss hit back at Starsport
pundit Paul Merson after he claimed Kane would not be able to score many goals under Mourinho because of his style of play.
The Tottenham striker played his first game in six months against Manchester United on Friday, returning after a severe hamstring injury and the lockdown, and Mourinho was full of praise for him – before taking aim at Merson.
‘The Special One’ said: “It’s not easy now for a striker to be completely sharp and Harry Kane played one game after six months. How long it will take, I don’t know.
“The only thing I know is that Harry Kane had an incredible effort. He played 90 minutes. He trained again today and yesterday. He is ready to play tomorrow. He is an amazing professional. He is super committed with the team.
“But, for me, Harry Kane is ‘Hero Kane’ because he had a big surgery and lockdown stopped the perfect rehabilitation.
“So with all the difficulties, then comes to normal training only for a couple of weeks, for me he is ‘Hero Kane’ and if tomorrow he gives the same that he gave me against United, I will be more than happy.”
But Kane’s performance against United, as he struggled to get to grips with the pace of the game as he lacked match fitness, prompted Merson’s comments on Sky, and the ex-arsenal star also suggested the England captain may consider his future.
Merson said: “He’ll have a serious think at the end of the season, I don’t see him getting 25-30 goals a season the way Jose will want to play.”
Mourinho says his own record with the world’s best strikers, while in charge of Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, proves Merson is wrong – even if he got his Didier Drogba stats wrong as he read from the appearances column rather than goals.
The Spurs boss said: “You have to look at it in a balanced approach.
“The record of goals that Harry has for me is easy for me. Go to your data and it’s easy to see how many matches he played with me and how many goals he scored before his injury.
“I had a few strikers that played for me and they’re not bad. I have a guy called Drogba, he played for me four seasons, he scored 186 goals – an average 46 goals per season.
“I had another guy (Ronaldo) who is also not bad, plays for Juventus now. He played for me three seasons, he scored 186 goals, which gives an average of 56 goals per season.
“I had another guy who is also not bad called Karim Benzema. He played for me three seasons, he was not always starting because he was quite young at the time, he scored 78 goals in three seasons, which gives a 26-goal average per season.
“I had another called (Diego) Milito. He played one season, he scored 30 goals.
“I had another guy who played for one and a half seasons – in the other half he had a big injury.
“A tall guy called Zlatan (Ibrahimovic). He scored 58 goals, which gives a 29 average per season. So dear Paul, I have lots of respect for you.
“Harry Kane has no problem at all to score goals in my teams, especially when he’s fit and fresh. That’s my message to somebody (Merson) I have lots of respect for.”