Tottenham Hotspur Young Gun Harry Kane Deserves Premier League Starts

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane shined once again in Europa League play on Thursday night in Greece. The 21-year-old helped guide Spurs to victory over Asteras Tripolis on the night, as he scored right before the end of the first half. The goal gave the Englishman five Europa League group stage goals for the season, tied for the highest in the European tournament, and nine total goals in all competitions for the campaign – easily the club’s leading goalscorer.

Despite Kane’s impressive statistics, manager Mauricio Pochettino has yet to reward the youngster with a Premier League start this campaign. The Argentine manager has instead chose Emmanuel Adebayor as his go-to center forward during league play. While Adebayor has certainly proven himself as a solid Premier League goalscorer during his career, the Togolese center forward has only managed to score one goal since the end of August (a span of nine matches).

With Adebayor currently struggling with a dip in form at the moment, and fellow center forward Roberto Soldado being completely unreliable since his £26 million move from Valencia last summer (only six Premier League goals in 33 total appearances), Kane appears to be Tottenham’s best option up front right now.

Former Spurs player, and current Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Redknapp voiced his opinions earlier this week on the England youth international saying, “Kane is an exceptional talent who works hard on his game and there is absolutely no way Pochettino can leave him out of this team now. If you compare him to Adebayor and Soldado there is no comparison. When he came on he made a big difference, giving Tottenham a bit of creativity and desire, and you could see how much he wanted to play and how much he cared.”

So why isn’t Pochettino giving Kane a chance to shine in Premier League play? When asked if Kane could start at the weekend, Pochettino stated, “We will see. We will see on Sunday. I am happy for him because he scored again. I am happy for us because it was an important goal to get the three points (against Asteras Tripolis) and I am happy for all of us.”

Although Pochettino would not commit to starting Kane in the upcoming match, one thing working against the youngster is the fact that Adebayor was rested for the game in Greece Thursday night, he did not even travel with the team. In fact, the last time Adebayor featured in a European away match for Spurs was over 18 months ago. The peculiar statistic may suggest that Pochettino will give the Togo international the Premier League start against Stoke City on Sunday.

With Spurs currently mid-table and with a negative goal differential, it may be time to unleash Kane up front to help give the north London team a shot in the arm. Tottenham also have the eighth-lowest amount of goals in league play so far this season, with only two goals coming from the high-priced duo of Adebayor and Soldado.