Former England international Michael Owen has questioned Tottenham Hotspur head coach Jose Mourinho's approach to big matches after both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min were starved of opportunities to score against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.
After what was built up to be the game of the weekend in the Premier League, Chelsea and Spurs played out a lacklustre goalless draw at Stamford Bridge, with opportunities for both sides few and far between.
In total, Spurs, who returned to the top of the Premier League table on goal difference with a point, registered just one shot on target in the whole game, which is a far cry from the usual attacking quality they have shown so often already this season.
Both Kane and Son were starved of opportunities to increase their respective goal-scoring tallies, with the latter deployed on the right-wing opposed to the left.
Though Sunday's draw at Stamford Bridge was an off-day for both Kane and Son, who have wowed the Premier League with their link-up play so far this season, former Premier League striker Owen believes Mourinho's approach raised questions about whether or not he trusts Kane and Son to perform against the big teams, even though they have played key roles in wins over both Manchester City and Manchester United already this season.
Owen, speaking on Premier League TV, said: “There are top players like Harry Kane and Son, in particular.
“Would I like playing as a centre-forward in that game today for Tottenham? I’d be thinking I prefer the way [Mauricio] Pochettino used to play.
“They trusted us, we went head-to-head with these teams, we might lose 3-2 or we might win 4-2.
“Whatever the score but he trusted us.
“If I play for Jose Mourinho, I’d be thinking does he trust us to go head-to-head with these big teams because every time we play anyone decent all we do is sit back.
“We are world-class players, trust us against these big teams.
“I don’t know whether it’s lack of trust, might just be the way he feels about the game and he just feels comfortable at playing a defensive style.
“The rest of the team would be fine with it but if that happens too many times, if Harry Kane and Son hardly get a kick in half the games this season, even though they might be flying high at the top of the table, I don’t know whether they would be enjoying it as much as they would like to do.”
