On the latest episode of the View from The Lane podcast, Jack Pitt-Brooke, James Maw and Charlie Eccleshare have been discussing the latest goings-on at Tottenham Hotspur and looking ahead to the opening game against Everton on Sunday.
One topic of discussion on the recent episode, which was titled ‘20-21 Season Preview: Why Spurs can make the top 4‘ was Spurs’ reliance on Harry Kane. As it stands, the England captain is the only natural striker available to Jose Mourinho ahead of the opening fixture against the Toffees, and those on the podcast seem concerned that the 27-year-old could end up being over-extended, due to the Lilywhites’ hectic start to the season.
Here’s what Maw had to say about the subject on the podcast:
“If they win that Leyton Orient or Plymouth game and then end up going through in the League Cup and in the Europa League, and then they’ll just have the same situation again the following week. Obviously, it coming the week later will just make it even worse in terms of the physical strain and the state of the players at that point.
“So, having said that you want them to make 11 changes, once you get one or two injuries, suddenly it becomes very difficult to do that. And then you can just envision a situation where Harry Kane basically ends up playing in all of these matches, which I think would be the one thing they should desperately try to avoid.”
TIF Thoughts…
As Maw alludes to, Spurs face the prospect of a lot of away trips in the first few weeks of the season, with a trip to Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League, followed by a trip to either Leyton Orient or Plymouth in the League Cup, so Mourinho will no doubt be forced to rotate his squad as much as possible in order to keep his players fit and well-rested.
Can you see Kane getting injured again?
Yes
No
However, with Kane currently the only senior striker, following Troy Parrott’s loan move to Millwall, there seems to be a real concern that he could be forced to feature a lot more than you would hope, especially if Spurs progress in both cup competitions. If he is forced to play too much, then it could result in another muscle injury similar to the one we saw last season, which as Maw suggests, should be one thing that the Lilywhites definitely try to avoid in the upcoming campaign.