Kieran Trippier has praised Harry Kane for his ‘unbelievable’ performance against Manchester City and revealed he’s astonished at the level of criticism he’s received this season.
Kane has struggled for form this term, but reminded everyone of his undoubted class with a brace on Saturday to help Tottenham secure a shock 3-2 win at the Etihad.
However, Kane failed to follow up with his heroics in Manchester as Spurs slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Burnley on Wednesday night.
The double against City took Kane’s Premier League tally to seven goals in 22 games, a world away from the high standards he’s set over the last few seasons.
The 28-year-old’s future was the subject of intense speculation amid reported interest from City, and many have attributed his lacklustre campaign so far as being in part to his failure to secure a move to the reigning champions of England.
However, Trippier, who now plies his trade for Newcastle played alongside Kane at Spurs, and leapt to the defence of his former team-mate.
“It gets to me a little bit when people are criticising him because Harry’s a goal scorer, he always will be," he told BBC Radio Five Live.
“I’d back Harry to score so many goals, like he has shown throughout his career.
“He was unbelievable against City, not just his goals but the way he plays when he’s dropping deep and bringing other players into it, he’s got everything.
“I played for him for many years at Tottenham, even in the Euros when he was getting criticised and I did a lot of interviews about it and I just feel 'be patient, Harry will score goals'.”
Trippier praised Kane further, calling the Spurs striker ‘perfect captain material’ and also hailed his professionalism.
He added: “Everybody knows he’s a goalscorer, he scores a lot of goals, but it’s like he has to keep proving people wrong.
“Harry doesn’t let it get to him, he’s a top professional, he believes in himself and I believe in him, it’s no surprise for me that he comes up with that performance against City.
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“Harry’s probably the best professional I ever played with, he’s perfect captain material.
“He feels no pressure when he doesn’t score, I’ve played with him in games for Tottenham where he’s gone through a spell of not scoring.
“I’ve always believed in him, if he gets chances, he’ll score.”
