Jamie Carragher said if he was Tottenham manager then he would start Harry Kane on the bench against Liverpool in the Champions League final.
The Liverpool legend shared that Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino had a big decision to make regarding the 25-year-old forward ahead of the Champions League final against the Reds, and that it wouldn’t be easy to know what to do.
Carragher revealed that he thought Kane would go down as one of Spurs’ greatest ever players but given that you can’t be sure that he is 100% fit, Pochettino would be better off not starting him on Saturday.
“Obviously the big one is whether he starts Harry Kane, and that will be a big decision and I’m sure the manager will leave that very late,” said Carragher on Sky Sports News (11:08am, Saturday June 1st).
“I’ll be surprised if the players know if he is starting, they may know the formation or other things, but you’ll probably try to give that as long as possible and leave it as late of possible.
“A fully-fit Harry Kane is Tottenham’s best player there is no doubt about that, is Harry Kane fully-fit? If I was in a Tottenham’s position, if I was Tottenham manager, I would leave Kane on the bench and looking to bring him on with half-an-hour to go.
“He’ll bring energy, bring pace, open up play, y’all probably upsetting someone if you leave someone out so how would their frame of mind be coming of the bench?
“I know Harry Kane will want to play and he will go down as one of Tottenham’s greatest ever players when he stops playing for Spurs and he won’t want to miss it, I totally get that, but it will be a difficult decision for the manager.
“But I think from Spurs’ point of view, I think it’s better if Harry Kane started on the bench.”
OPINION
While some will say Carragher doesn’t want Kane to start against Liverpool as he will be rooting for his former side, and the clinical attacker not starting will aid their chances, everything the pundit says make sense. Kane may have scored 24 goals in 39 appearances this season, but it would be a risk to start him against the Reds if he isn’t fully fit. While the Spurs attacker may scream from the rooftops that he is ready, when you consider he hasn’t played one minute of action since the first-leg victory over Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final, he is going to be at the least, a bit rusty. Also Carragher is right to point out that whoever makes way for Kane in the first-team could have their nose put out of joint. Lucas Moura scored a hat-trick in the Champions League semi-final against Ajax and it would be understandable if the Brazilian reacted negatively to being dropped from his side’s biggest game of the season to make room for his teammate.