Home Football Craig Bellamy believes that Pochettino should have rested Harry Kane

Craig Bellamy believes that Pochettino should have rested Harry Kane

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Former Liverpool player Craig Bellamy has said that Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino should have rested Harry Kane for a while instead of starting him in the Premier League. Harry Kane had a very tedious summer where he led England to fourth place at the World Cup in Russia. Kane won the Golden Boot with 6 goals, thus equalising Gary Lineker for the most number of goals scored by an England player at a single World Cup edition.

Despite a hectic summer, Pochettino has started the striker in all of Tottenham’s matches. This has drawn plenty of concerns about the England skipper’s fitness. In four matches, Kane has scored 2 goals and has provided an assist.

And now, Craig Bellamy has said that Pochettino should have given some time off to Kane to avoid any kind of burnout or injury. He said, “It’s difficult for Mauricio Pochettino. I love him as a manager, but he should have said ‘I am not using you, you need time off to rest, I am not going to use you for the next two or three games, so go on holiday, freshen up, because I want you for the rest of the season.’

But he has had a couple of weeks off after the World Cup, come back into training and then straight into games. He’s gone straight into Premier League games with high intensity, and he is nowhere near that level with his lack of training and conditioning.”

Kane also played 29 minutes in England’s friendly against Switzerland at Leicester on Tuesday. Bellamy thinks that Gareth Southgate made the wrong call to bring him on the field. He said, “England should have said ‘you did great for us at the World Cup, we can’t use you for the next two games. Spurs are not resting you so we are going to have to take that responsibility to thank Spurs for having you for the World Cup.’

Something has to give because nature will take its course and Kane will get injured. If he carries on at this rate, with his lack of freshness – which makes him more high risk and vulnerable to injury – the decision will get made for Spurs and England where he could miss a couple of months with injury. He will get his rest then but it will be the wrong rest. He needs time off, he needs to stay away for a couple of weeks.”

Craig Bellamy gives a very valid point. Following a hectic summer schedule and lack of pre-season matches, Kane should have been rested for a few weeks. Now that Spurs are facing Liverpool after a defeat to Watford, playing Harry Kane is a necessity. However, he can be rested for some time after playing Spurs’ Champions League opener against Inter Milan. The first matches that follow are against weaker teams.

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