Football
Dan Kilpatrick, Tottenham Correspondent 8y

Harry Kane not to blame for England failure at Euro 2016 - Pochettino

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino believes there is "no reason" for criticism of Harry Kane's performances at Euro 2016, and says responsibility for England's failure in France rests with the manager.

Kane failed to score in four appearances at the tournament and was singled out as one of England's worst performers in their dismal round-of-16 exit against Iceland.

Pochettino was at a loss to explain the 2-1 defeat but believes Kane, who won the Premier League Golden Boot last season with 25 goals, has been unfairly made into a scapegoat.

Roy Hodgson stepped down as England boss after the tournament and Pochettino also said responsibility for England's exit rested with the manager and the coaching staff, before the players.

"When you analyse England against Iceland there is no reason to lose but football is football and sometimes it's difficult to find the reason. For me, it's difficult to speak about England," Pochettino said.

"I was very surprised about the criticism [of Kane] because there was no reason. No reason. You know always when you are disappointed with the result you try to find a reason why and the guilty.

"For me, Harry Kane was in the same lineup as the other players -- some good, some bad. It's not just his responsibility. In football you need to share responsibility.

"For me it is the manager first, then the coaching staff and the players. The responsibility is not one player. It's because a lot of things happen."

Pochettino was also unconvinced by Hodgson's decision to use Kane as England's primary set-piece taker in France.

"I don't want to criticise but I think Harry is a top scorer and for me why take a free kick or corner if the skill of Harry is to score? You need to stay in the box, not outside. But this is my idea. I respect all the ideas."

Asked if the experience would damage Kane's confidence, Pochettino said: "No. I think he is more mature now and focussed on this season. He is very excited to play Champions League."

Pochettino was speaking on Friday, the final day of Spurs' preseason trip to Melbourne, where they were beaten by Juventus and Atletico Madrid in the International Champions Cup.

The manager decided against bringing 10 of Spurs' 11 Euro 2016 players -- including England quintet Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose -- to Australia but he says he is happy with the condition of his entire squad ahead of the Premier League opener at Everton on Aug. 13.

He said: "The good thing about coming here with this group is they trained properly for two-and-a-half weeks and we are now ready to compete and avoid the risk of injury. But it was impossible to bring the international players here. It would have been a big risk as they had not trained properly.

"We are very, very happy in the way they are training in London. We watch the clips every day. They are very focussed. We are very happy with how they behave."

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