Harry Kane has said Tottenham’s failure to compete for trophies issimply not good enough as he reflected on the dismal sequence that has derailed their season, beginning with the “dagger in our hearts” at Sheffield United last week.
Spurs lost 1-0 to the Championship club to exit the FA Cup and, after Saturday’s Premier League loss at Wolves by the same scoreline, they went out of the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday night, having been held to a 0-0 home draw by Milan. It meant another 1-0 defeat – this time on aggregate.
Spurs created little during a flat and directionless performance. They were booed off at half-time and full-time and there is a strong end-of-days feel to Antonio Conte’s managerial tenure, not least because his stated aim is to compete for silverware.
Conte, out of contract in the summer, saw his team knocked out of the Carabao Cup at Nottingham Forest in November and Tottenham’s season comes down to whether they can hold on to a top-four place. They are fourth, three points ahead of Liverpool, who have a game in hand and a superior goal difference.
“Where we’re at as a club, we should be winning trophies,” Kane said. “The top four [being the only target] is a consequence of not playing as well as we want to play. For sure, it’s not enough for this club. I totally understand the fans’ frustration. Top four [alone] is not good enough for anyone at this club, especially the fans. They have the right to voice their opinion.
“The last week especially just hasn’t been good enough. Before the Sheffield United game, the season could have been a whole lot different. You go through there, you take that momentum into the league game and this game [against Milan]. But I feel like that loss last week put a dagger in our hearts and as you can see we haven’t really recovered from that.”
Kane, used only as a 65th-minute substitute at Sheffield United, is desperate for honours, having won nothing during his one-club career. He will have only one more year on his contract this summer and, when he considers whether to push for a move, his leverage may never be greater.
Manchester United need a centre-forward and the manager, Erik ten Hag, is a massive Kane fan. It is worth pointing out that the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, would be a hugely reluctant seller.
Kane is determined to break Alan Shearer’s Premier League scoring record of 260 – he has 201 – although it is something of an artificial target. English football did not begin with the Premier League’s formation in 1992 and Shearer previously scored 23 times in the old Division One. The leading top-flight scorer is Jimmy Greaves with 357.
Conte heard jeers from the Spurs support when he substituted Dejan Kulusevski for Davinson Sánchez in the 83rd minute against Milan, shortly after Cristian Romero had been sent off. The manager was also criticised by one of his own players, Richarlison speaking out after being left on the bench until the 70th minute. This kind of dressing-room dissent has previously felt unthinkable.
“I didn’t understand [Conte’s choices],” Richarlison told TNT Sports. “I was playing well, we won against Chelsea and West Ham and suddenly I was on the bench. I played five minutes against Wolves, asked the reason and no one told me why. On Tuesday they asked me to take a fitness test in the gym and told me I was going to start if I passed it. Then I was on the bench. There are things I can’t understand. There was no explanation again.
“Let’s see what he [Conte] will tell us tomorrow but I’m not silly. I’m a professional that works hard every day and I want to play. There hasn’t been enough minutes given to me and this season – forgive my language – has been shit.”
Conte’s future is a live subject, a parting of the ways at the end of the season – or even sooner – increasingly likely. He is scheduled to hold a press conference on Friday afternoon before Saturday’s home game against Nottingham Forest. He is sure to be asked to elaborate on his post-Milan comment that Spurs “might even sack me before the end of the season”.
Kane was asked for his thoughts on Conte’s future. “It’s his decision, he’s going to be the one that makes that choice,” Kane said. “All we can do as players is try to perform for him, work as hard as we can. That’s what we’re doing. You can’t fault the effort of the players.
“We’re just lacking something. We’ve talked about mentality before and that ruthless hunger to be better, to be the best, to be one of the best teams in Europe. We just haven’t quite found that yet.”
