Harry Kane has admitted Tottenham’s crisis has “been building” for weeks.
Kane revealed the players delivered some home truths to Daniel Levy in a clear-the-air meeting with the Tottenham chairman. Tottenham’s season has been a soap opera as former manager Antonio Conte slammed the players publicly and caretaker boss Cristian Stellini was sacked this week after their humiliating 6-1 defeat at Newcastle.
The Tottenham fans have been calling for Levy’s head on the back of another trophy-less season but Kane insists the squad is now galvanised and determined to rescue the campaign as he says they will not give up on finishing in the top four.
Tottenham striker Kane said: “The chairman asked for a meeting. Obviously I won't go into what was said but I think it was important for him to understand where the players' heads were at at that moment. Obviously coming off the back of that result.
“And it wasn't just that result. It had been building up since the international break when we conceded the two goals against Southampton.
“It was an honest conversation of where everyone is at and what we need to try to do to give us the best possible chance to finish the season with something. We're still fighting for fourth place but if it's not fourth we'll try to finish fifth or sixth, as high up as we can.
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“In this league, it's so competitive, you can easily end up 8th or 9th if you're not careful. That's what it was -- to give us the best chance. And I'm glad we reacted like that against Manchester United.”
Tottenham’s comeback from 2-0 down against United on Thursday night stirred their fighting spirit and it looks like they are ready to pull together under interim coach Ryan Mason. But Kane insisted the fans played a huge part in turning the game around and also says the whole squad was behind the gesture of refunding the price of the tickets to fans who travelled to Newcastle last Sunday.
Kane said: “When you travel that far and you're 5-0 down in 20 minutes, it's not acceptable on any level so we know it wasn't going to magical change their feelings or make the result any better but it was still something as a group we wanted to do to try to show we're all together in this moment.
“I thought the fans were amazing again. They really helped us in that second half and we're going to need them until the end of the season. We know we've got a lot to work on and Ryan knows that but ultimately these last five games are going to be about mentality and character and more of what we showed in the second half against United.”
There was a very public fall-out with Conte after the Italian questioned the players’ attitude after a 3-3 draw at Southampton and Stellini was just the wrong fit. The club is now looking for a new permanent manager but Mason is a popular figure in the dressing room even though the 31-year-old former player actually played with several members of the current squad.
Kane said: “I think he's been great. He's come in at a really difficult time after that defeat and he's not had long to implement any style. So it's all been about motivation and getting some belief back in the boys.
“I've known Ryan a long, long time. He's a great football brain. He sees the game in a really good way, he's worked under some fantastic managers so far. So look, we're all fully behind him. We really want to work for him and try to finish the season as strong as we can. And he's a great guy and a great manager. Hopefully we can finish strong and see what happens.”
That includes trying to win at Anfield on Sunday as Kane insists they will not give up on finishing in the top four even though it looks like a long shot.
Kane added: “We spoke about these two games this week, just getting results: finding a way to win, finding a way to come away with something. Liverpool's going to be the same. Anfield is a very tough place to go.
“They're in a similar position of fighting for the spots we're fighting for so there's a lot riding on it. It's down to us to recover and show the character we did in the second half and be brave away at Anfield.”
