Tottenham’s acting head coach Cristian Stellini has hit out at former players Jamie Carragher and Danny Murphy for criticising Harry Kane’s reaction to being struck by Abdoulaye Doucoure, saying they lack respect for Spurs.
Pundits Carragher and Murphy both described Kane as “embarrassing” for going to ground clutching his face after being caught by the Everton midfielder in Monday’s 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. Doucoure was shown a straight red card and Kane booked for his part in the scuffle.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s home game against Brighton, Stellini defended the England captain and said he found criticism of his reaction strange.
“It’s strange that some ex-players said some things I think wrong about Harry because they’re ex-players and they understand the difference between seeing a situation like this in slow-motion and living this experience in real time,” said the Italian.
“It’s completely different. Everton’s manager said it’s a clear red card, so there’s no discussion about this. I don’t understand why some player spoke about this. I think they don’t agree with Tottenham, instead of not agreeing with Harry. I think they respect Harry but probably they don’t respect Tottenham enough.”
Stellini added that Kane’s conduct on the pitch was beyond reproach and said the striker never complained when on the receiving end of robust challenges.
“I have never seen him exaggerate something,” Stellini added. “I have seen him stand up after a strong tackle and we have a lot of examples. Also we spoke with the board of referees about some of the tackles Harry received and [some were] really bad.
“Also in the first half last match there was a strong tackle from a central defender but we don’t discuss this and Harry doesn’t discuss this. He’s an amazing player in every aspect, also in the behaviour he has and the respect he has. He respects the game a lot. It’s important to say this and everyone has to understand that they cannot challenge Harry on this aspect.”
Brighton’s visit is a six-pointer for a top-four finish, with Roberto De Zerbi’s Seagulls just four points behind Spurs with two games in hand.
Stellini watched his side ship a 90th-minute equaliser against Everton, despite being 1-0 up with an extra man for most of the final 20 minutes, and issued a rallying cry to his players ahead of Saturday’s game, saying: “We are Tottenham, so we have to play stronger.”
Antonio Conte’s former assistant added: “Brighton are a great team with the ball that is very good, with a great manager that arrive here and is quickly doing a great job. We knew this manager for a long time because he’s an Italian guy and we respect him and Brighton.
“But we are Tottenham, and we play in our stadium and so we have to play stronger, and play in our way and in a way we can hurt them. We know very well which is this way and we are well prepared to play tomorrow.”
Stellini continued: “Tottenham has to play for the top four every time. Until the maths say something different, we have to play strong to arrive for the top four.”
