OPINION
The hot debate from a Tottenham Hotspur perspective going into Saturday’s Champions League final against Liverpool is whether key striker Harry Kane should start or not.
The 25-year-old hasn’t featured for Mauricio Pochettino’s side since the Champions League quarter final first leg against Manchester City in early April.
However, former England international Danny Mills believes Kane should come straight back into the team in Madrid: “If he is 75 per cent fit, he starts, without a doubt,” he told Football Insider. “If there is any chance of playing, Harry Kane plays. Fitness tests the day before the game are kind of irrelevant. Once you get in a game and the endorphins flow, you forget about any minor pain.”
Starting Kane at 75 per cent is a huge risk, no matter what Mills says. Considering how well Spurs have played without their talisman this season, you’d have to think that it’s better to proceed without Kane and bring him off the bench to make the difference in the latter stages of the game.
No, Mills needs to think again here. Son Heung-min has been phenomenal this campaign and is an obvious candidate to lead the line in Kane’s absence. Plus, there’s always the Fernando Llorente option, as well, if Pochettino opts for a physical presence to upset Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip.
The risk of Kane pulling up early on is simply too much of a gamble considering the form of Son, Lucas Moura and co. To take one of those men out for a half-fit Kane would be hugely unfair.
The England captain is clearly Tottenham’s best player, but he’ll be going up against Liverpool’s finest operator in Van Dijk. If he’s not fully fit then the Dutchman will wipe the floor with him.
Mills is entitled to his opinion, of course, but he’s got it all wrong here. It’s time to trust Son, Lucas and the rest, not to gamble on a player who’s not fully fit. Kane must start on the bench on Saturday.