Harry Kane: Speculation about Pochettino shows Spurs are on the right track

Harry Kane (right) has praised Tottenham's head coach Mauricio Pochettino. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire PA Wire/Press Association Images

Harry Kane says the speculation about Mauricio Pochettino’s future shows Tottenham “must be doing something right”.

Share Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in.

Spurs sit second in the Premier League after Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Watford – their sixth successive victory in all competitions – and the future looks bright.

Yet the club have lost key men to bigger clubs in the past and the main concern now is that the architect of their improvement, head coach Pochettino, might be lured away.

The 43-year-old only spent a year and a half in charge of Southampton before moving on to Spurs and, after 18 months in north London, there have been suggestions that Manchester United and Chelsea might be interested in procuring his services.

Yet there is an argument that the time to worry is when none of your personnel are impressing and catching the eye.

And Kane, who has also been linked with United in the past along with team-mate Hugo Lloris, feels the rumours surrounding Pochettino underline the talent and excitement at White Hart Lane.

“That’s down to him,” said the striker. “Obviously he’s a great manager, he’s done great things already in his time here - it’s only been a short time.

“There’s going to be speculation. There’s been speculation about a lot of our players, so we’ve just got to stay focused. Everyone’s happy at the club and we’re all going in the right direction.

“When people are talking it shows that you must be doing something right. He’s a top, top manager and he’s a top-class man as well. It’s all positive at the moment – but we’re not getting too carried away, there’s still a long way to go. There are three competitions where we’re trying to achieve good things, so we’ll see what happens.”

Pochettino said last week that Kane and his fellow Englishman Jamie Vardy are “on the same level” as Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero – and the Spurs forward was flattered by the compliment.

“The gaffer’s been good to everyone at the club,” he said. “He’s changed our philosophy and everyone’s striving for greatness.

“To hear things like that coming from the manager, it’s great, but it doesn’t affect me. I still know what I’m capable of and what I can achieve, and that’s what I’ve got to do.”

Tottenham will face Aguero and Man City’s other stars when they visit their title rivals next Sunday, having just overtaken Manuel Pellegrini’s side in the table.

“We don’t fear anyone. We’re happy to go there and play our football, and we’re excited,” said Kane. “We know we can beat anyone in the league and that’s the attitude we’ve got to keep. We’re all working towards the same aim and hopefully we can keep winning games and getting better.

“It’s a game we can win and we’re playing well. City have been beaten this weekend [by league leaders Leicester City] so they’ll want to put things right, but we’re on a great run and the more games that come the better for us, and we’re just looking forward to it.”

Summer signing Kieran Trippier scored the decisive goal in Saturday’s victory over Watford and Kane feels Spurs’ full-backs will be key men at the Etihad Stadium too.

“The way we play, it gives them a lot of space to get forward and deliver balls into the box, and they create a lot of chances for us,” he said.

“Trippier scored this weekend so it’s important that we have that space. Going to Man City, they’ve got a bigger pitch than ours and it gives the full-backs even more space to get forward, so that’s what we’ve got to try to do and try to achieve.

“We’ve got goals all round the team now, which is important – people chipping in here and there. We’re delighted for Tripps, getting his goal. He’s been working hard and he deserves it.

“A 1-0 victory is good. It probably should have been more – we had some good chances, me included - but the win was the most important thing and now we’ve got a couple of days off to relax, and then there’s a big game on Sunday next week.”

Tottenham are only five points off the top and now have a seven-point cushion ahead of fifth-placed Man United in the battle for Champions League qualification – but Kane insists there has been little talk of the title or a top-four finish in the dressing room.

“There hasn’t really been a lot to be honest,” he said. “I think we’ve had so many games coming thick and fast that we’re kind of just [thinking] ‘on to the next one, on to the next one’.

“That’s what we did this week. We beat Norwich, then it was on to the next one against Watford. Now we get a little bit of a break, we get a good week’s training – which we haven’t had for a while – and then we go and try to beat Man City.

“We’re up to second, which is a good thing. The further up the league we are the better, but there’s still a long way to go.

“Leicester have got another good result and we’ve got some tough away games coming up so we’ve just got to stay focused and keep doing what we’re doing.”

Follow me on Twitter @BenPearceSpurs