Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane calls on teammates to raise standards
Inexperience cannot be an excuse any more for Tottenham Hotspur players who must take responsibility to overcome a disappointing start to the season, striker Harry Kane has said.
Tottenham, runners-up to Liverpool in the Champions League last season, crashed out of the League Cup after a 4-3 shoot-out defeat by fourth-tier Colchester United.
It followed a 2-1 English Premier League defeat by Leicester City on Saturday that left Tottenham with two victories from six league games, and last week's 2-2 draw with Olympiakos in their opening Champions League match.
"We're not inexperienced any more, we're not young any more, the excuses aren't there for us any more. It's down to us to take responsibility," Kane said ahead of Spurs' EPL clash with Southampton tomorrow.
"I'd say it's been disappointing. I don't think there's any hiding behind that. To win only two games... isn't the standards that we've set in previous years.
"We've put ourselves in good positions this season. We just haven't managed to see the game out or find a way to win like we have in previous years."
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino also felt that most of their results have been decided by fine margins and that their performances have not been much different to when they were doing well.
"We're not so far away. Our performances are not as bad as the feeling is. I'm sure that we are going to start to win games," Pochettino said yesterday.
"In some games that we were leading like Arsenal, Leicester, Olympiakos - we didn't keep the result we expected, but the performances have been similar or better than last season."
Pochettino added that Spurs deserve to be criticised for a lacklustre start to the season which should serve as a wake-up call.
"During my five years, it has all been praise for Tottenham. Now we deserve to be criticised and we accept that," he said.
"The fans are right to criticise... Sometimes critics can make you realise you need to wake up. You need to accept the criticism... We are fixing problems to get the results we expect. To win the games."
Tottenham sit 10 points behind early pace-setters Liverpool, but Kane refused to rule the north London side out of the race for the league title.
"If this were January, people would be saying there's no chance of us winning it... it's not the ideal start, but stranger things have happened," he said.
"There are plenty of games to turn that around, starting with the game on Saturday."
Pochettino has no fresh injury concerns, with only Giovani Lo Celso (hip injury) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) ruled out of the Southampton clash. - REUTERS
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now