"Kane looks up and doesn’t pass to him" - Harry Kane accused of not passing the ball to one Tottenham teammate on purpose
Tottenham Hotspur expert John Wenham has claimed that Harry Kane intentionally refrained from passing the ball to teammate Emerson Royal in their UEFA Champions League group-stage fixture against Sporting Lisbon.
Tottenham played out a 1-1 draw against the Portuguese outfit after an 80th-minute equalizer from Rodrigo Bentancur.
Harry Kane managed to find a late winner for the Lilywhites in stoppage time. However, the strike was ruled out by VAR due to off-side.
I don’t really know what to say to be honest I’m just absolutely gutted it ended like that and not with a win. To take the positives we showed great fighting spirit and it’s all in our hands for the final group game. https://t.co/y0KliepxV2
Wenham, who posts Spurs updates on the Lilywhite Rose Twitter channel, criticized Tottenham's full-backs, labeling them 'Championship level'. He singled out Spurs left-back Sergio Reguilon, who is on loan at Atletico Madrid, and newly signed right-back Djed Spence.
However, Wenham's reproval was mainly aimed at Emerson Royal. He insisted that the Lilywhites are missing opportunities due to the defender's incapablity.
He told Football Insider:
"A lot of the things I haven’t had to talk about this season have now cropped up again in these last few games. The spotlight is now on those fullbacks.
"I said last year that they were Championship level. We moved one of them on in Reguilon who is now not featuring for Atletico Madrid. We brought in another one [Djed Spence]. Royal, not good enough.
"The were a number of times yesterday when he was basically left open in space by opponents. Kane would pick it up on the half turn and if we had somebody capable there, I can’t tell you the number of opportunities we would create.
"Kane looks up and doesn’t pass to him because he knows we are wasting an opportunity if he [Royal] is played in."
Emerson has made 15 appearances this season and provided one assist.
"That’s our hope" - Former Tottenham striker hopes Harry Kane will win trophies with Spurs
Former Tottenham and Bayern Munich striker Jurgen Klinsmann is hopeful of Harry Kane remaining at Tottenham and winning trophies with the club.
The England international's contract is set to expire in 2024, which has resulted in speculation over his future in north London.
Harry Kane is yet to win a trophy as a professional footballer 😧
While Klinsmann would much rather prefer Harry Kane to stay at the club, the German insists that fans will forgive the English forward if he leaves at the end of his contract.
Speaking to The Athletic, he said (via GOAL):
"I’m a huge, huge fan of Harry. There’s no doubt about it, as we all are at Spurs. It’s a decision that he has to make sooner or later.
"He knows he has a very good team right now. He has a very strong-minded manager, so we all hope that he actually starts to win trophies now with Spurs. That’s our hope.
"But also, I think people would forgive him if he said at a certain point, if it’s next summer or the summer after when his contract is definitely over, that he will move on to a club that might give him a higher probability to win trophies. But I still have that hope that it will happen with Spurs."