Graeme Souness was seething as he launched a staggering attack on Harry Kane after the Tottenham striker came out in the press to admit Spurs haven't been good enough this season.
Robbie Keane leapt to the defence of the England international and while Souness claimed he is a fan of Kane, he added that he feels "embarrassed" for him as his comments came across as scripted.
Souness said on Sky Sports ahead of Tottenham's clash with Liverpool: "I'll be as polite as I possibly can. "When you're a professional football player, passion should be with you all the time. Desire should be with you all the time.
"It's not a light switch, you can't flick it on and off. Harry came across there as if he'd been media-trained. He knew what questions were coming and he knew how to answer them.
"Maybe he consulted someone in PR at Spurs. I know I'm a certain age and from a different generation but I find that so weak.
"I played with players and the most important thing in their lives come Friday was what's going to happen on that Saturday and that was it. Everything I do, everything I contribute to in life is on the next 90 minutes.
"These players today when they come on and they're interviewed, they're media-trained and supporters don't want to hear that. Passion and desire for 45 minutes against Man United. What about going back to the first game of the season in August? That's when the passion and desire starts and that's when it's with you throughout the season.
"At the end of the day, if you're a good player and a good team you might win something but you don't consistently let down supporters like this Spurs group of players have. They've let down managers, they've let down supporters and ultimately themselves and their own families. I feel embarrassed for him with that comment and I'm a big fan of Harry Kane."
Former Spurs striker Keane agreed that Tottenham have been off the pace this season.
But Keane argued that Kane cannot be blamed for this as he has consistently performed well this campaign, despite results going against the north London club.
He also claimed that Kane is one of the leaders in the dressing room, despite Souness' suggestion otherwise.
"One thing you can't ever do is question Harry Kane," responded Keane.
"If there is one player who has stood up this season it's Harry Kane. For a team that's struggling and the amount of goals that he has scored for Tottenham is incredible in terms of how bad they have been this season. So one thing I never do is question Harry's determination."
He added: "I know in the dressing room - and if you look at the squad, they're lacking a lot of leaders - but Harry is one of those leaders. They have one or two of those and he's certainly one of them.
"I never question Harry. For me, he's been incredible this season considering how bad Spurs have been."
Kane's comments that prompted Souness' outburst came following Tottenham's 2-2 draw with Manchester United last time out.
The match followed Spurs being hammered 6-1 by Newcastle and featured a Tottenham team starting very slowly against their top four-rivals, United, who stormed into a two-goal lead.
But Spurs rallied in the second half and drew the scores level to take a point at home from the contest.
Kane told Sky Sports: "When you've been here this long, I've been here since I was 11 years old, you understand what the fans are like, you understand what the club's like. You've been through good moments with the club, I've been through not so good moments.
"Values are... everyone wants to win and everyone wants to lift trophies and that's ultimately our aim every year. But we're in a different situation to some of the clubs around us and we have to accept that but still find a way to improve and get better.
"We probably haven't been doing that in recent years so ultimately it's about getting back to competing right at the very top and our squad has got enough talent to do that.
"Ultimately, there's some things that may need to change I think everyone is doing everything they can to try and achieve that. But when you look at the competition in the Premier League now, the fine line between being one of the top clubs and 10th or 11th is very slim and you have to make sure you're on it in every department."
