IIt feels like a small point in the story of Tottenham’s increasingly volatile season, in which successes seem to buy only temporary breathing space and setbacks throw an immediate loss of any momentum, but it is one that speaks to the apocalyptic fear among fans.
What does Harry Kane do with all this? The answer is that we do not know and it is due to the fact that the team’s talisman has stopped talking to the press.
This is not meant to sound like a journalist’s argument. The reason for mentioning it is that it is so devoid of character. In every season of his career so far, Kane has usually given his thoughts before or after the game. In essence, he is a good guy, who is happy to engage with supporters through the press, even in difficult times – which is always a sign of character.
No more. The issue was brought to light when Kane avoided media coverage during the international break in November, which is extremely unusual for an England captain. And he continued on his way back to Spurs. The pandemic has affected journalists’ access, but that doesn’t give Kane a pass. Are you sure you need to break the cover during the next international window?
It was impossible to ignore the suspicion that Kane kept a low profile because he did not want to be put in place, to deal with questions he might struggle to answer honestly. Or, more precisely, a certain question. He is the one who watched him in the last seasons, but now he is pressing with more urgency and discomfort. With his 28th birthday in July, does he think he has to leave Spurs to fulfill his ambitions?
The club’s position is that Kane is not for sale. Moreover, with a contract until 2024, the president, Daniel Levy, has control. Everyone knows that a deal with Levy is practically signed in blood. But at least Kane had plenty to think about as he left the field on Thursday night after 120 minutes of his life in the extended Europa League exit at Dinamo Zagreb. The same, José Mourinho.
There is a reason why the crisis always tends to come to Mourinho faster than other managers. Because, with it, the result can often feel like the only thing. Mourinho immediately brings trophies to clubs and then leaves. There is never a feeling of forming a long-term team, possibly with young players. At Spurs, he borrowed most of them.
The style of play is built to win the first and entertain the second, although this, frankly, is optional. The way Mourinho analyzes the matches is clinical. He is not bothered by possession statistics, areas of action or expected objectives. For him, it’s just a matter of great opportunities. If his team can do this once or twice at the right time – and, ideally, he can score – then nothing else matters.
The result is that when the result is not there, Mourinho has little reason to retire and when the attitude is not there either, as was the case in Zagreb and in the defeat of the derby at Arsenal on Sunday, it leads to questions about reached the end of the road.
Kane was silent on Thursday night, but the captain, Hugo Lloris, was not. In a harsh interview with BT Sport, he revealed his frustrations and two things were noticed. First of all, Mourinho’s message to attack Dinamo and not to sit on the first leg 2-0 was clear. “But the opposite happened,” Lloris said. And, secondly, that there are players, mainly from the team, who do not give their all, probably because they are disillusioned.
It led to a damaging lack of unity, to hiding the players – to borrow the word used by Mourinho after the Arsenal match – and to the responsibility being left only to a handful of players.
“It’s one thing to come in front of the camera and say, ‘I’m ambitious,'” Lloris said. “The other thing is to show [it] every day in training sessions and to show every time on the field. If you only watch the team when you are in the starting XI, it causes big problems for the team because you pay. We had a wonderful time in the past, because we could trust the union that was in the team. Today, I’m not sure about that.
“On the bench there is an influence to have, to push others. At the same training sessions. Everyone needs to be prepared to help the team when the time comes. It’s not just about standing aside and complaining. ”
It is extremely worrying to believe that Mourinho’s message does not pass because the players do not listen or, to take it to the extreme, do not want to hear it; they don’t want to play for him. When this happens, it tends to lead to only one thing.
Managing a team, rather than just a starting XI is fundamental and is a uplifting feeling when a reserve can intensify. Witness the joy of Thomas Tuchel and all of Chelsea, when Emerson Palmieri came on as a substitute in the 89th minute to score in the Champions League victory against Atlético Madrid on Wednesday night. Each player must find the motivation inside, but the manager is the one who sets the tone.
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Spurs go to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday night, but the game Mourinho surrounded in his diary is the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on April 25. He wins this – however unlikely it seems at present – and would have delivered once more. Would that still be enough, especially if qualifying for the Champions League were to escape the club again?
And so the tension bubbles. Kane wants more than that, as does Son Heung-min, who has yet to sign his new contract, as does Levy, as does everyone else. Joe Hart, the backup goalkeeper, was left to offer a moment of easy relief when he had to apologize for a post sent by mistake from his Instagram account. “Ready”, it was read, after the 3-0 defeat against Dinamo. Only if.