Kane fitness ‘not being risked’
Mauricio Pochettino insists he and his Tottenham Hotspur staff are taking no risks over the fitness of striker Harry Kane. Kane, who has never scored a Premier League goal in August, played in Tottenham’s opening-day victory over Newcastle United and is set to start against Fulham today, despite captaining England at the World Cup.
He started all but one of England’s games in Russia and has had only one summer off in four since becoming a first-team regular for Tottenham. Over the past four seasons, the 25-year-old has played 220 games for club and country. He looked sluggish after rushing back from an ankle injury suffered against Bournemouth last season and once again appeared short of full match fitness at Newcastle.
But Pochettino, the Spurs manager, has suggested Kane’s fitness is being managed internally and said: “We can’t explain how we manage players inside. The people outside don’t know how Harry was after playing 90 minutes last week. They don’t know if Sunday Harry was off, Monday off, or training or relaxing, or one session or in the gym.
“Be sure that I am not going to take a risk. If we are conscious that we would be taking a risk, he is not going to play. There are 25-30 people who are coaches, sport scientists, physios and we talk a lot about fitness, health and everything. If we are wrong, we are 25-30 people wrong.”
Pochettino also insisted Kane had not been rushed back into action after the World Cup because Son Heung-min, who has deputised for him in the past, is away with South Korea at the Asian Games.
“In football, the most fit players can get injuries,” he said. “Of course, if this happens someone will say you made a bad decision. But it is not easy. The easy thing is to give your opinion when the thing happens or after the result.”
Manchester City have seen Kevin De Bruyne, who played for as long
Sluggish start: Harry Kane did not look as fresh as he did last season against Newcastle
as Kane with Belgium at the World Cup, suffer a knee injury that will keep him out for around three months. But Pochettino said: “It’s 100 per cent impossible to stop injuries. I don’t know what happened with Kevin, maybe it’s unlucky.
“It’s not the best thing, with not a good rest for the players. But, of course, too much holidays for the players are not good. It’s so difficult to find the balance.”