Home » Pochettino doesn’t regret starting Harry Kane in 2019 Champions League final

Pochettino doesn’t regret starting Harry Kane in 2019 Champions League final

By Bruce Grove -

Mauricio Pochettino says he would still start Harry Kane if he was to play the Champions League final against Liverpool in 2019 again.

Kane was injured and missed the final few weeks of the season including the second quarterfinal of the Champions League against Manchester City and both legs of the semifinal against Ajax.

Lucas Moura had been the hero of the semifinal second leg as a second-half hat-trick from the Brazilian was enough to help Spurs book a place in the final in Madrid.

Kane returned from injury just in time for the final and he was a surprising starter in place of semifinal hero, Moura.

The Englishman struggled to do anything in the game and Poch has been criticised for starting an unfit Kane when he had other options.

However, Poch has defended his decision and the Argentinean claims that he would start Kane again and that you cannot have doubts if the England captain is fit to play.

He told Sky Sports via Mail Online: ‘For sure if you put me in the same situation I would take the same decision again. 

‘You can’t doubt about Harry Kane. Of course, maybe you can make some changes but Harry Kane was our main striker and was the best player in Tottenham and also in Europe and when he’s fit to play you can’t have doubts. 

‘It was no doubt we believed that it was the best team to win the game.’

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East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Essex Tony

So if you saw the box full of defending players with their arms stretched out that it’s fine because they’re not likely to know if a ball hits their arm it’s most probably a pen?

When they brought the (sorry) ‘law’ out in Brazil coaches at clubs started working on booting ball at arms in the area. It became a bit of a problem apparently. ‘Arm in an unnatural position’ is pretty much common knowledge as far as I can tell. Maybe it isn’t, news to me…

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  TheRon93

The final was actually several weeks after the season ended. Neither side looked particularly sharp, neither did Moura from what I could tell…

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Essex Tony

So Poch’s whole 5 seasons should be judged on one game? Getting there in the first place, being regularly in the Champions League for four seasons isn’t relevant? 🤔

Surespur
Surespur
3 years ago
Reply to  Cincy Spur

To go missing, one has to turn up in the first place 😉. Eriksen hadn’t turned up in any game of significance for quite a while. I’m a big Poch fan, but it’s become very clear to me that he really didn’t have an alternative plan to enable him to drop players that weren’t up to the biggest final in European football.

Essex Tony
Essex Tony
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

The only embarrassment here is that I’m talking about the decision in the CL final and you’re extrapolating that opinion across the whole of Poch’s reign which is patently absurd. You know nothing about my views of the football prior to the CL final, so you can sod off on that front and I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of telling you how long I’ve supported Spurs because I don’t need to justify myself on that either. You can continue your unrequited love for an ex-manager, but I prefer to look forward with a manager who is a proven winner.

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Essex Tony

Yeah but we played really good football and finished higher in the league consistently than we ever have in our history.

I’d wager that the man was a total fool then… 🤔 😂

Why would anyone be down on Poch? We beat Real Madrid for the first time in our history. How long have you been supporting Spurs? Moaning about what he did is idiotic. Embarrassing in fact…

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Essex Tony

If Moura had anything about him he’d have come on and played a blinder win, lose or draw. This is a Brazilian international who cane from PSG and his feelings were so hurt by having to come off the bench that he couldn’t get it together in the biggest game of his career? Not sure I buy that one…

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Essex Tony

I see no evidence that not starting Moura cost us that game whatsoever. What’s happened after, even with Poch gone shows that Moura just isn’t a prolific goal scorer. In fact for his position it’s very poor. He did play in the final, he came on. To little or no affect, if he had a point to prove to Poch he didn’t manage to…

Essex Tony
Essex Tony
3 years ago
Reply to  Tappaspur

And then we have Poch spouting the old “Je ne regrette rien” line showing no ability to reflect on what he could’ve done better. Muppet.

Essex Tony
Essex Tony
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

“Moura’s hat trick was all the more remarkable seeing as barn doors and not being able to hit them has since been Lucas’ trademark”, wow your hindsight must be on fire. We’re talking about what happened at the time, not what has happened since.

Essex Tony
Essex Tony
3 years ago
Reply to  Tappaspur

Most of the games afterwards the players pretty much dialed it in, waiting for the chop to come.

Essex Tony
Essex Tony
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

It’s simple really, psychology. He damaged Moura’s confidence and when players have confidence they tend to perform. That was a poor piece of man management in the extreme.

Essex Tony
Essex Tony
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

Players, no the rules? Firstly, they are laws, not rules. 2nd, I’m a referee and the number of players that know and understand the laws to any sort of comprehensible level I could count on the fingers of 1 hand. Prem league is no different.

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
3 years ago
Reply to  Panama Paul

Dumbs about right man.

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
3 years ago
Reply to  Essex Tony

Extremely dumb move. Not many managers woulda dropped a hatrick hero in a semi.

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
3 years ago

Players lost respect for him after that (common knowledge) and rightly so. terrible terrible move.

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

HE LOST THE DRESSING ROOM. STRUTH.

TheRon93
TheRon93
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

Without a doubt poorly – i cant and wouldn’t defend that fact but i do have a nagging doubt about how much of that was down to being dropped after the semi.

I do in honesty find Moura intensely infuriating because he is proving to be the type of player that will turn it on every 3rd or 4th game but like history tells us a manager can have a pivotal moment that changes the tide for the better long term.

I appreciate its a long shot but what if dropping Moura just when he had found his scoring boots (not long after a hat trick at home if memory serves me right) set him back – it was a harsh decision that was certainly not based on any tangible proof that Kane was anywhere near up to speed for a match let alone a final of such magnitude?

Its all conjecture as i don’t know how Poch broke it to Moura but i think if i was at work and came up with a cracking idea that earned the company shed loads of money I’d want to be in the next high level meeting at least and not replaced by the guy returning from sick leave – i may even harbour some resentment perhaps team player or not….

Cincy Spur
Cincy Spur
3 years ago
Reply to  Surespur

I was not the biggest fan of his but I didn’t have a problem with him starting as much as the fact nothing was done when he failed to get any kind of grasp in the game. He ,as he usually does, went missing, for this game and got lost. It was like he never made it to this game. He should have been taken off after about 55/60 min.

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  TheRon93

I take your points on board and they make sense. For me though whichever one was sub first in the overall context of how the game panned out on the night, is probably more splitting hairs.

Moura got game time and would have had the bit between his teeth. Levy’s be honest, how well did he actually play after he came on?

TheRon93
TheRon93
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

To a certain extent i do agree that the Kane / Moura decision was nowhere near the only reason we lost however i lean towards the whole man management side of the decision.

Moura had scored a hat trick in previous round to get us to the final and most people would be riding on the crest of the wave based on this alone – he had earned his opportunity to start.

To then drop him for the final is in my honest opinion spectacular mis-management and whether Moura came on later and did nothing or not, it is hardly surprising and pretty natural that his confidence / attitude (and i suspect most people in same set of circumstances) was affected.

Kane being passed as physically fit is nothing like being match fit and starting the final was no way the place to get some match minutes in – i cant imagine any other player in the squad being selected on same criteria which in itself would send out the ‘untouchable’ vibe to the rest of the team surely?

Having Kane on the bench with the threat of bringing him on with 30 mins left and letting Moura roll with his momentum i think would have been a far more productive use of Kane.

Surespur
Surespur
3 years ago

I’ve always believed that the biggest mistake was starting Eriksen.

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Panama Paul

Yeah but players know the rules, standing with your arm outstretched in the penalty area is either being unaware of the rules or complete idiocy…

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Harry Hotspur

Moura’s hat trick was all the more remarkable seeing as barn doors and not being able to hit them has since been Lucas’ trademark… 😂

HH, you were pretty merciless in your opinion of Moura before Jose arrived, what’s changed?

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Harry Hotspur

But he came on with lots of minutes HH, and did the square root of naff all. As he has done ever since…

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Panama Paul

We all have our own take on it but I don’t personally feel it was as much of a factor as people make out. In hindsight everything is I guess…

Harry Hotspur
3 years ago

@EastyStand:disqus

I’d ponder just how damaging dropping a player after such a stellar performance might have been? Moura struggled to be taken seriously at his previous club and I think this would have seriously hurt him. It certainly hurt us.

Difficult to remember a game in which Spurs were so ineffectual. If I were Poch, I’d be repenting all over town. Standing firm by a bad decision is Hitler’s Bunker territory.

Harry Hotspur
3 years ago

Clownstick.

Moura was on fire, he’d just scored a remarkable hat trick.

Kane wasn’t 100% fit.

Pleased to see he’s learned nothing and his refusal to acknowledge a massive error will not sit well with Woodward or anyone else with half a brain.

Panama Paul
Panama Paul
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

I don’t really blame Sissoko as it feel he was stitched up. The whole hand-ball issue is a farce and that incident showed how it can be manipulated to your advantage as an attacker.

Essex Tony
Essex Tony
3 years ago
Reply to  Panama Paul

Frankly it was a very dumb move and its not hindsight, I said that at the time to my wife. It proved that when he had to chance to go for broke he bottled it with his decisions and I think the players recognised that too. After that, he was doomed.

Panama Paul
Panama Paul
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

The lack of transfer window activity was pivotal in our end of season fade out before the 2019 CL final and into the new season. Who’s more at fault for this – Poch or Levy? Having Moura as the stand-in for your only striker is gross negligence on someone’s part. Perhaps that forced Poch’s hand to a certain extent? But would it have hurt to start Moura for the first half and bring Kane on for the second half to change things up? It’s all hypothetical and what happened, happened. ‘Dumb’ was probably too strong a word for Poch’s decision and I’d say more ‘ill-considered’ now.

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Panama Paul

We needed a proper transfer window after the final and after 12 months of signing nobody. Or at least two summers to rebuild.

Poch didn’t get that because Levy panicked about top four and sacked him. We needed a freshen up and competition for places. I think that been proven now…

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Panama Paul

That pen was the killer, why does Sissoko get off scot free? A player of his experience? I don’t get it myself, that’s why we lost because as you say if we thought we might not win it, conceding a pen in the 3rd min was a massive blow.

I blame Levy for bringing in dross like Sissoko who’s experience should be helping us in that situation ffs…

Panama Paul
Panama Paul
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

Moura is infuriatingly inconsistent and has similarities to Sir Blastalot. However, Kane wasn’t properly fit and ought not to have been selected to start. It sent a clear and not very positive message to the team. I believe that it affected the team the following season, when they seemed to ‘down tools’ and lacked the desire to fight. Especially when you consider Alli was getting a free pass as well from Poch. Thankfully Jose is right on top of it – dropping Dele and having a chat with Kane about how he is going to contribute to the team.

Panama Paul
Panama Paul
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

Truth be told, we played like we knew Liverpool were supposed to win it. At the end of the day the argument over Moura vs Kane is a red herring as you say. Neither was going to alter the final result.

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Panama Paul

I don’t happen to think it was a ‘dumb’ move PP. Kane is Kane and Moura is Moura despite fitness levels. I’d back a slightly unfit Kane to convert a chance over a fit Moura all day long. I think we can regard Moura’s hat trick in Amsterdam as the pinnacle of his career and a complete one off. What has he done since and how many goals has he scored?

Moura is our new Sir Blastalot, only he does it from close range! 😂

I’d start Kane again too.

Panama Paul
Panama Paul
3 years ago

It’s a tad worrying that he regrets nothing about that decision even though it may have cost us the final and spilled over into the next season with an under-motivated team. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and you would think that repeating such a dumb move, having had some time away from managerial responsibility, shows that he hasn’t learned from his mistakes or is just uncompromisingly stubborn. Neither of those are particularly attractive attributes to put in front of prospective employers. I guess if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with philosophy.

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago

Totally disagree, Moura has proven that he can’t be relied upon to convert chances in front of goal. Besides he came on with plenty of the game to play what did he do? Miss several decent chances is what he did.

Yes ‘hindsight’ is indeed a wonderful thing. Sissoko and his stupidly outstretched arm in the area and a mischievous Mane booting the ball at it lost us that game.

The Kane/Moura ting is a red herring, and a convenient stick to beat Poch with. Moura was great in the semi but was no better than Kane the final… I think you will find.

HarryKaneisinourHearts
HarryKaneisinourHearts
3 years ago

Even with the benefit of hindsight he doesn’t learn from his mistakes, that’s got to be worrying for any future employers. Subs used too late when games were crying out for them at half time, starting players who were out of form or unfit/injured and being overly selective in the transfer market (or so we’ve been led to believe) are all things that he was guilty of and you would bet will continue to be.

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