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A former Tottenham player has warned Harry Kane's tactic of backing into opponents as they leap to head the ball is so dangerous that: "He could break someone's neck."
Spurs and England striker Kane has come under scrutiny this season for his apparent technique of waiting for a rival player to jump, then backing into them while they're airborne, making a nasty fall inevitable.
Shame on you @HKane You might hurt someone by this dangerous move pic.twitter.com/iu0FyMwJBU
- Pawan K Shrestha (@pkshr) December 7, 2020
Football fans on social media have been quick to criticise and now Jamie O'Hara, the Billericay Town player-manager who played 56 games for Tottenham, has said the tactic should result in an automatic booking or even a red card.
"If he did that to me, I would be absolutely raging, I'd want to fight him," said O'Hara on talkSPORT. "Because, for me, he should be either getting booked or sent off.
"I love Harry Kane, I'm a Spurs fan. But the way he looks at people... and then as they jump, he backs in, wins a foul, goes down. He can seriously injure someone.
"He could break someone's neck or break someone's arm and put them out. He needs to eradicate that from his game."
:rage: "If he had done that to me, I would be absolutely raging. It could seriously injure."
:pray: "He could break someone's neck.. That is SERIOUS foul play, in my opinion!" @MrJamieOHara1 says Harry Kane must be punished for backing into airborne players. pic.twitter.com/O58OuN3qj8
- talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) December 17, 2020
O'Hara's comments drew support online with one fan commenting: "Totally agree. Will it take a very serious injury for him to be punished though? Probably."
"It's banned in most other similar contact sports - super dangerous," said another.
Finally someone else has spoken out about this :clap::clap::clap::clap: https://t.co/FSAcSi4wze
- Paddy Campbell (@Paddy15c) December 17, 2020
Well done @Mrjamieohara1 for speaking the truth when so many ex pros back their former club mates
- Rossco (@ro55co316) December 17, 2020
Agreed it's banned in most other similar contact sports - super dangerous :grimacing:
- Financia£ Advisor :yellow_heart::blue_heart::trophy: (@Ian_Lambert_) December 17, 2020
Totally agree. Will it take a very serious injury for him to be punished though ? Probably...
- Pedro2403 (@Pedro24031) December 17, 2020
Kane has appeared to back into airborne players at various times this season, including West Ham's Aaron Creswell and Brighton's Adam Lallana. There was also an incident with Arsenal's Gabriel in the north London derby earlier this month.
Crystal Palace defender Gary Cahill has argued that the controversy is overblown. "I think that's just part of football," he told Sky Sports. "An element of that is being clever and experienced and knowing when you can maybe draw a foul in."
However O'Hara's view is that it's particularly dangerous as a player has no control once they are off their feet and in the air.
Pack it in Jamie!! This happens 2-3 times per game - not all Harry Kane!! Do some research
- Taff4Ever #COYS :flag_black: (@taff4ever) December 17, 2020
Do you think Kane backing into opponents should mean an automatic foul and the referee reaching for a card? Or do you believe that this is a social media storm in a teacup?
Let us know in the comments.
Featured image credit: PA Images/Sky Sports
Topics: Spurs, Football News, Football, Tottenham Hostpur, Premier League, Harry Kane, Jamie O'Hara
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