That was a good night, and a very good performance possibly as well as we have played this calendar year (we have definitely saved our best games for the Champions League). Every one of the 14 players who stepped on to the field of play last night made a contribution and they all deserve a pat on the back. Its only half time and we have given ourselves a chance – City at home though are a very different beast and with better players possibly available to come in we all know that there is a lot of work still to be done. For anyone who genuinely believes we are better without Harry, I just think you have short memories. But I do think regardless of the extent of the injury (unless its days which is unlikely) we have shown we can play and get results without him and he should now be told to go and get a holiday, bin off England in the summer and come back fully fit for a full pre season, ready for another big season starting in August.
This is exactly how I feel about he situation. Selling him would be a silly idea, but let's not drop everything as soon as he shows signs of being fit, just to get him back into the team if it ain't broke. Give him time just as other players would get. Another player to cover in that position would help too.
Your whole analysis is based on a false assumption and therefore invalid. You assume that points awarded are deserved. Points are often arbitrary to the way a game has panned out as we know from multiple games where we have dominated and deserved to win but did not get the points. Similarly there are a few games we've played without Kane that we haven't deserved the points but got them. It can be argued that this all balances out over the course of a lot of games, but (1) I don't think that is actually the case and (2) it certainly doesn't apply to five specific games. This also implies that "Kane returning from injury" is the only factor in the award of points, when multiple other things clearly happen that affect the result, and it is impossible to isolate Kane as a factor. So for all these reasons Kane = Result cannot be valid as a measure of anything. Perhaps it's a guide but certainly cannot be used in any decisive meaningful way.
And as I stated, your Nobel prize for maths beckons because you : 1. can show that for all goals missed by the attack and conceded by the defence (ie the reasons for W/D/L in a game) in games played this and last season where Kane was in the starting XI, have been significantly due to Kane and nothing else 2. only needed a measly 5 games of "population data" to do so
Only good manners and the fact the you're another Spurs supporter stops me from responding to your Nobel Prize jibe (twice) in kind. Results speak for themselves. You can choose to ignore them if you wish; that's your prerogative but I can see what I can see. I've taken the 5 games prior to his return and the 5 games after as my sample data because by the time he's played 5 games, it could be said that he should be back to match fitness, at which point it would be silly to bench him. Equally, you want your sample data to be small enough to look at recent form and big enough to have significance. 10 (5 prior and 5 after) games is a good snapshot of recent form. The BBC regularly uses the last 6 games.
Forget about deserved. If points were awarded on whether we deserved them we'd have been champions 2 out of the last 5 seasons and probably in 1987 too. With regards to "Kane returning from injury", i suggest you read the rest of the posts as I really can't be bothered to repeat myself.
Of course it is. Kane is not in that prima donna class of stars and is respectful of Poch. In most other cases recently MP has been keen to not rush players back and surely relies more on medical reports and fitness accounts than a players in-built desire to return.
Despite being ecstatic with the result, I went to bed seething about the Fernandinho incident. If a player jumps leading with his elbow and catches the opposing player he gets a red-this is far worse. What is VAR for? Serious foul play! Rose gets a yellow for unintentional hand ball. Fernandinho gets nothing. VAR can ruin football. And the refs in the VAR control room can be as corrupt as the one on the pitch. UEFA narrative want City to win so will not have City down to 10 men when we are on top and have same player miss the next game ( he is a crucial player-when he was out of the league games is when City went through their blip in the season ). Just as they wouldn't have Salah receive a red in their game last night.
Interestingly, the arm was almost down when the ball actually made contact and it hit him on the back of the upper arm. I initially was 'don't like it, but understand it' but having watched it back numerous times I am now of the opinion that if this is going to be the level for handball in the future then the game is fecked.
Kane will probably not play again for Spurs this season - which maybe guarantees that he will stay as he hasn't yet scored at the new stadium. He will play in the nations's league semi-final and meet up with Delph.
Maybe not a prima donna but that whole debacle where he nicked a goal off Eriksen against Stoke last season does point to an almost unhealthy obsession with the golden boot with a flagrant disregard for potential disharmony in the team. I'm sure Eriksen wasn't thrilled with that performance even if he didn't say so. Which brings me back to why I think he pushes himself to return before he should.
As we said when United got their last minute penalty against PSG. BTW , I thought this is a new rule being introduced next season. But some refs can't wait when it their favoured teams
My thoughts too, yet never got a mention. Another case of officials and pundits not knowing the rules. - just don't get me on the elbow incident as that was just a refereeing disgrace Interestingly, on VMSport (Ireland), all 3 pundits, including Souness, thought that Delph definitely left one on Harry. Have to say I wasn't that convinced at first, but it does look like it with hindsight. Hence Poch reaction.
Poch has said on occasion in the past that Kane is the type of player who just needs to play his way back to full fitness. His style is so high intensity, all-action that it kind of makes sense. Bale used to be the same - we'd complain he was being rushed back from various injuries but you'd watch him work the kinks through the system over 2 or 3 'meh' games before the afterburners kicked in again. Some players need to be eased in gradually. I think Poch feels that for Kane that approach would be pointless, despite the fact that for the team it would be very useful.
Henry Cooper once said that just to be awarded a draw with an (Italian ?? ) fighter in a bout in their home town, you have to get a KO. So it will be with Spurs in the return leg (and similarly so if Spurs progress to the SFs and draw Juventus) . It is what it is. So front up and play a 90 min game that spites all such attempts to deny us.
