Roy Keane has questioned Harry Kane’s leadership and insisted that the striker needs to take a large share of the blame for Tottenham’s defeat to Middlesbrough.
Spurs put in an extremely disappointing performance at the Riverside Stadium and the home side deservedly sealed their progress to the quarterfinal stage of the competition at the North Londoners’ expense.
It has since emerged that being eliminated from the FA Cup could make it harder for Tottenham to hold on to Kane as the striker was hoping that winning the competition could pave the way for the club to lift further trophies with Antonio Conte (Evening Standard).
However, Keane believes that the England captain needs to first take a long hard look in the mirror and take some responsibility for the Lilywhites’ poor showing on Tuesday.
The former Manchester United midfielder told ITV about Kane: “He is part of the problem Where was he yesterday?
“If he is your main striker he has to do more – he has to lead them. He does not lead them that well and you saw that yesterday.”
“You shouldn’t be surprised about Spurs losing these games. Spurs, Spursy – I’m not sure how many times that we have to say it. But I’m not surprised about them losing that game.
“Midweek, Middlesbrough, probably a bit cold – I wasn’t surprised with the result yesterday.”
Ian Wright insisted that Antonio Conte’s men were too easy to stop once Boro nullified the threat of Kane dropping deep.
The former Arsenal striker said: “If you can condense them and stop Harry Kane from coming deep, then they are a lot easier to beat – and that is what Middlesbrough did yesterday.”
“Spurs… Spursy! How many times do we have to say it? Whatever’s in that club’s DNA – the players – there’s a weakness there. It’s really pathetic but I wasn’t surprised. Going up to Middlesbrough in midweek, probably a bit cold. No surprises there.”
🗣 Roy Keane on Tottenham 🥵 pic.twitter.com/Gt0ow6EPnO
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 2, 2022
Spurs Web Opinion
Both Kane and Son had off-nights on Tuesday. Unfortunately, that meant that we did not really pose much of a threat to the Boro backline. I believe Conte also deserves a large portion of the blame as he seemed hesitant to change tactics and press Boro high up the pitch despite the fact that we were struggling to create chances.
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