MX23RW : Monday, February 25 18:15:43

Pochettino: We have nothing to prove

Pochettino: We have nothing to prove
© Reuters
Spurs have won five of their seven games without talisman Kane.

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says his side have had nothing to prove in the way they have coped without star striker Harry Kane.

Kane has missed the last seven games with an ankle injury, but Spurs have, in the main, coped admirably in his absence.

They were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions in the space of four days, but won all four of their Premier League games to climb back into the title race and dismantled Borussia Dortmund 3-0 to put one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Spurs have relied heavily on Kane's goals in the past, leading to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola once referring to them as the "Harry Kane team", although the Spaniard insisted that was meant as a compliment to the striker rather than the interpretation they were a one-man team.

While questions were asked about how Spurs would fare in their main man's absence, which should come to an end against Burnley on Saturday, Pochettino is adamant his side have never been over-reliant on Kane.

"Only one person said that...he was over the moon, very happy after he beat Chelsea," Pochettino said, referring to Guardiola's 2017 comment.

"I never believed that [we were the Harry Kane team] and I'm never going to believe that.

I don't believe that we've proved anything without Harry Kane.

Mauricio Pochettino

"I think Harry Kane is one of the most important players for us and he's one of the best strikers in the world. But football is about the collective, the squad.

"I don't believe that we've proved anything without Harry Kane.

"I always want to have Harry Kane with me. We can win or lose with or without Harry, with one player or another player."

It really has been a team effort in Kane's absence as Fernando Llorente and Son Heung-min in particular have produced seven goals between them.

View this post on Instagram

Look who's back! 👀 #OneOfOurOwn

A post shared by Tottenham Hotspur (@spursofficial) on

Pochettino has always believed in the importance of cultivating a team ethic and gets frustrated when the focus is on individuals.

"Sometimes there's too much focus on, 'without him, now the team is dead', or, "with him, we're going to win the World Cup', Pochettino added of Kane.

"It's not like this. You need your team-mates, the team, the squad that's training every day.

View this post on Instagram

Great to be back with my team 💪 #COYS

A post shared by Harry Kane (@harrykane) on

"The players pushing to be better. There are a lot of aspects that are so important but the people only see who scores or who's in goal saving a penalty.

"Sometimes it's very frustrating for us.

"It's so unfair that the perception is different to what we see.

"We try always to provide the best balance to the squad – to make everyone happy. It's so difficult to make everyone happy."


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Sean Dyche in charge of Burnley on January 19, 2019
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool27206159154466
2Manchester CityMan City27212474205465
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs27200755272860
4Arsenal27165655371853
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd27157552351752
6Chelsea26155645291650
7Watford2711793935440
8Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2711793534140
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham27106113540-536
10Bournemouth27104133848-1034
11Everton2796123639-333
12Leicester CityLeicester2795133238-632
13Crystal Palace2786133135-430
14Burnley2786133148-1730
15Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2777132434-1028
16Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2676132839-1127
17Cardiff CityCardiff2774162552-2725
18Southampton2759132846-1824
19Fulham2745182661-3517
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2725201450-3611

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