‘Appalling’ – Garth Crooks blasts Tottenham key player after loss v Man City (not Alli)

Mon 18 December 2017 7:18, UK

Garth Crook has blasted Harry Kane for his “appalling” tackle on Raheem Sterling in Tottenham’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday evening.

Kane, 24, was booked for catching the Man City attacker with his studs in the second-half and arguably could have been shown a straight red by referee Craig Pawson.

Dele Alli was also involved in a similar incident when he left his studs in on Kevin De Bruyne, just moments before the Belgian playmaker scored a thumper of a goal.

BBC pundit Crooks is now asking the question of whether Kane should even be making tackles and should just stick to what he does best – putting the ball in the back of the net.

“To be fair to Spurs, they didn’t park the bus – teams with such talented players should never do that. Spurs took City on and looked good for an hour,” Crooks said on the BBC Sport website.

“But does Harry Kane have to do everything? I expect him to score goals, he’s very good at that, but does he have to tackle and defend set-pieces as well? I thought that was the defenders’ job. As for his lunge at Sterling – well, frankly, it was appalling and deserved a sending-off. I’m not suggesting it was deliberate but it did smack of a player doing a job not within his expertise. Spurs need Kane up the other end of the field scoring goals and not suffering the fear of suspensions doing other people’s jobs.”

Kane has been in top form for Tottenham this season but like most other players, was completely off the boil at the Etihad on Saturday when they were thoroughly dismantled by Pep Guardiola’s City.