Harry Kane trained with the Tottenham Hotspur squad on Tuesday morning, before the Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen at Wembley on Wednesday night, and it had been no low-key thing. The media were in attendance, having been invited to watch the opening 15 minutes of the session, and, as the pictures went out, a major narrative line looked to have been established.
Tottenham have struggled for cutting edge in front of goal in recent weeks but Kane, even if he were to be only a substitute against Leverkusen, would stand to offer the remedy. It has been difficult to ignore the correlation between the absence of the striker, who has been out with ankle ligament damage since the middle of September, and how the team have misfired. They have scored only three times in their past five matches.
Mauricio Pochettino would quickly reshape the storyline. Kane, the Spurs manager reported, had completed only half of the session, before he moved off to do some specific work. The expectation was that he will train fully on Thursday for the first time since the injury and be ready to play a part in the derby at Arsenal on Sunday. He would not feature against Leverkusen.
And so, in what promises to be a crucial fixture in this tightest of Champions League groups, Pochettino will have to eke greater productivity from his other creative players. His principal selection dilemma concerns whether to stick with Vincent Janssen up front or switch Son Heung-min to the role and bring in Moussa Sissoko on the right flank. Sissoko’s three-match ban for elbowing Bournemouth’s Harry Arter applies only on the domestic front.
Either way, Pochettino needs something to change; a penny to drop with one of the players he entrusts with carrying the fight to a Leverkusen team who looked pretty slick during the second half of the 0-0 draw with Spurs at the BayArena two weeks ago.
Pochettino said his team were “creating the same chances as before” and he accepted that something was going wrong. Normally he would work tirelessly in training to stamp out any imperfections but, with Spurs in the throes of an unforgiving schedule, he said there had not been the time. The visit of Leverkusen is Tottenham’s sixth game in 19 days. Then again, Pochettino suggested that the issues were more psychological than technical.
“The problem is we don’t have time to train too much,” Pochettino said. “The priority is to rest and recover. We are watching a lot of clips and videos because it’s good for people to realise, but it’s more about mentality – to be aggressive with your energy. The players know how to shoot. Sometimes it’s more about freedom and when you have the chance to shoot, you shoot, rather than trying to pass and build the action more. It’s mentality more than work.”
Kane’s comeback has long been pencilled in for the derby at the Emirates Stadium and it would be a surprise if he were not included in the squad. “Maybe, maybe,” Pochettino said, when asked whether he would pick him.
If Pochettino did so, it would raise the prospect of Kane being named by Gareth Southgate in the England squad that faces Scotland and Spain on 11 and 15 November respectively. Pochettino would have no issue with that, as Kane’s fitness would have been demonstrated and he would never block an international call-up for any player.
But Pochettino would want Southgate to handle Kane with care and it sounded significant that he brought up the recent case of another of Tottenham’s England contingent – Danny Rose.
The left-back was injured on England duty against Slovakia on 4 September and he returned to action for his club against Manchester City in the game before the October internationals. Rose then played 71 and 90 minutes for England against Malta and Slovenia respectively and Pochettino felt that he had to rest him in Tottenham’s first game after the break at West Bromwich Albion.
“The good example, for you, is Danny Rose,” Pochettino said, on the subject of the risk of setbacks on international duty. “He was available to play against Manchester City after his injury with the national team. Then, they used him in nearly two full games. We can only advise. They can use the player and it’s not in our hands to manage the national team.”
Pochettino has other injury concerns. Toby Alderweireld is still out with knee trouble and Pochettino suggested that the centre-back may have had a setback. “With Toby, we are not sure – we have some slight problems,” he said, when asked when Alderweireld would return to full training. It did not sound as though he would be fit for Arsenal. The winger Érik Lamela felt his hip in training on Tuesday and will not feature against Leverkusen.
Pochettino has generally overseen an excellent fitness record at Tottenham and it felt unusual to hear him being forced to talk at length about injury absentees. He merely wants those who are available at Wembley to seize their opportunities – particularly in front of goal.
