Chris Sutton believes Tottenham attacker Harry Kane shouldn’t start against Liverpool in the Champions League final.
The outspoken pundit shared that while it may sound ridiculous, Mauricio Pochettino cannot afford to take a risk by starting the Spurs forward especially when he has other options.
Sutton claimed that Kane would be the perfect option to have on the bench and that Pochettino should tell the attacker he is not starting even if the Spurs star insists he is 100% fit after his recent injury.
'Pochettino can't afford to carry anybody in a #UCL final'@chris_sutton73 @Charlie26Adam and @Tim_Vickery all agree that @HKane should not start against #LFC, but he can affect the game by playing 20 or 30 minutes
?? – https://t.co/NSwYBORwY0 pic.twitter.com/4ryB4oNpmW
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) May 27, 2019
“Pochettino will say in the best interest of the team… (if Kane tells him he is 100% fit), which I think is the right thing to do, to say you’ve been nearly two months out, you haven’t played a competitive game…,” said Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live (as seen in a clip on their Twitter account).
“He can’t afford, this may sound ridiculous as it is Harry Kane, he can’t afford to carry anybody and risk it in a game of this magnitude, Spurs could win the Champions League, why would Pochettino risk it? When he has players fully fit, who are on top of their game and have great confidence.
“Harry Kane off the bench would be perfect.”
OPINION
Sutton does have a knack for saying ridiculous things but on this occasion there was no need to pre-warn listeners before sharing his views on Kane. The fact of the matter is that while Kane is a fantastic player, shown by the fact he has scored 24 goals in 39 outings this season despite injury issues, he will no doubt be rusty after a recent spell on the sidelines. The 25-year-old missed the tail-end of Spurs’ season and when you consider that as well as the fact Pochettino has other players who can hurt Liverpool, he doesn’t need to take a risk on him. Also just like Sutton implied, using Kane from the bench could be a masterstroke. The Spurs attacker could run riot against a tired Reds defence in the final stages as he’ll probably have a enough juice in the tank to go all out for a fraction of the game.