Harry Kane called out by pundit after Tottenham’s derby defeat to Arsenal

Harry Kane might just be ‘frustrating’ his teammates, according to pundit Micah Richards.

It has been a frustrating time for Tottenham, who are consistently losing ground on the top four, now five points behind Manchester United in fourth having played a game more. On Sunday, Spurs came up short against Arsenal, losing 2-0 at home to the league-leaders, and it only piled pressure on Antonio Conte amid a disappointing season so far.

Tottenham qualified for Champions League football last season, and that looked to be a platform upon which to build, but Conte’s men now look like they could struggle to even repeat that achievement. albeit we still have half of the season still to play. Even with plenty of time to rectify the issues, there is a real feeling of concern surrounding Tottenham, and the uncertainty surrounding Conte certainly isn’t helping.

But one pundit believes Conte’s tactics have been ‘too negative’ this season, claiming star striker Kane is not helping his team’s case by dropping deep to receive the ball. Match of the Day pundit Richards told Monday Night Club: “In terms of the way they are set up, it’s a little bit too negative. Kane is again coming too deep, which must be frustrating for all of his teammates.

“When he’s not having the best of games, he’s going to be involved which then leaves nobody up-front which is even harder to do when you have so many players back.”

Conte’s teams have traditionally played deep with wing-backs bombing on and causing problems on the break, but systemically, Tottenham are not causing enough problems fo opposing teams, and they only have one Premier League clean sheet since returning from the World Cup break. Pressure is on Spurs to pick up form, and Kane will be expected to lead them back to winning ways.