Spurs coach takes on responsibility to ‘give back his confidence’ to Harry Kane

Mauricio Pochettino, laying some of the blame for Harry Kane's misfiring on the U21 Euros earlier in the summer, says 'maybe he has lost his confidence a little bit'.

Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur warms up prior to their League Cup match against Arsenal on Wednesday night. Tom Dulat / Getty Images / September 23, 2015

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has blamed Harry Kane's poor form on his appearance for England at the Under 21 European Championships.

Kane is still waiting for his first Spurs goal this season and has been a shadow of the player who appeared to emerge as one of the Premier League's best strikers last term.

Pochettino had been eager to protect Kane after his breakthrough campaign and expressed reservations about his involvement in the U21 Euros during the close-season in the Czech Republic.

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But Pochettino’s hopes of Kane being left out were not heeded and he hasn’t looked sharp since arriving late for pre-season training following a tournament in which he failed to score a single goal.

“The striker sometimes needs confidence and trust and maybe he has lost his confidence a little bit,” Pochettino said.

“It’s our job to give back his confidence so he can start to score. I think he is the same person and he has the same mentality as last season.

“But maybe at the end of the season he rested, went to the Euros, didn’t score at the Euros after three games, he came back late for pre-season and you need time to recover.

“Sometimes you are not in the best scoring condition when you start to play and your confidence goes down.

“It’s not easy to recover because it’s not only physical, also mental. It’s true that maybe the summer did not help.”

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