Cristian Stellini has been speaking to the press after Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the FA Cup, and commented on the fact Harry Kane was not selected in the starting lineup.
Tottenham travelled to Championship high-flyers Sheffield United looking to book a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
A poor performance on the night saw the home side progress with a 1-0 win over their Premier League opponents.
(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Spurs went into the game on the back of two impressive league wins over London rivals West Ham and Chelsea.
Under the watchful eye of stand-in manager Stellini, the North London side have looked solid defensively, while producing plenty of chances in attack.
Stellini opted to rotate the team for the cup tie, with one particularly notable absentee from the starting lineup in the form of Harry Kane.
Tottenham’s top goalscorer started the game on the bench, before being introduced in the 65th minute.
Kane failed to make an impact after coming on, and Stellini was asked about his decision to leave his star man on the bench.
He told Football.London: “No it’s not a regret. We also have to look at the medium period and we have many games.
“Harry Kane played a lot, one time with fever and another with a problem. It’s not about Harry. We played with Lucas, Richarlison and Sonny. I think that should be good enough.
“He was ill one week ago – a throat problem – and he didn’t train some days. For that reason, we decided also to keep Harry on the bench.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It’s easy in hindsight to say we shouldn’t have rested Kane, but he is the kind of player you should start at every opportunity really.
Nevertheless, the front three of Lucas Moura, Richarlison, and Sonny should definitely have been enough to make something happen and it was ultimately a really disappointing attacking display all round.
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