‘Scared’ – Conte gives his take on abuse Harry Kane suffered against Brentford

Antonio Conte has played down the chants that Brentford fans directed at Harry Kane, remarking that it was down to them being concerned about the Tottenham man’s quality. 

Kane took to the field for the first time since his penalty miss for England in the quarter-final of the World Cup, and predictably, the Brentford fans tried to get under the striker’s skin.

There were chants of ‘you let your country down’ ringing around the Brentford Community Stadium but, if anything, it seemed to bring the best out of Kane, who sprung into life in the second half with a brilliantly placed header after having a quiet game until then.

The Tottenham man almost won it for the Lilywhites with another header in the 84th minute but saw his effort come off the crossbar. Conte insisted after the game that Kane is strong enough to cope with the stick he gets from opposition fans.

When asked about the abuse directed at the striker from the stands, the Spurs head coach told Football.London following his side’s 2-2 draw: “Personally, about Harry, I have zero doubt about his quality, about his mentality, about the way he approached every game and every training session.

“For sure, for Harry, he’s facing a strange situation because he played a really good World Cup. I think that also because he played a good World Cup and the team played the quarter-final, then he missed this penalty. It was a decisive penalty for England to drop England.

“But you know very well, football is this. You can have positive or negative moments. If you are strong mentally, if you are a top player, if you are a player of a big, big level, then there is a moment you have to put to one side a negative situation and move on. 

“I think Harry did this. I repeat we are talking about a really, really good player and especially a good person. For this reason, our fans and also the fans of the other teams should every time clap him.”

When asked if fans should stop abusing him, Conte responded: “The fans were scared because today he was playing for Tottenham but not for what happened for England. It’s normal. 

“The fans tried to create a problem, but only I think because he was playing for Tottenham and against their team. It’s normal. In Italy, you don’t know what happened (laughs).

“When they play national team together they are the best. Then when they start together in the league, the fans find ways to disrupt the other players of the opponents, because in this moment they are a player for the opponent and can hurt your team.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I think journalists should be careful about throwing the word ‘abuse’ around. Abusing any player is never okay but I do not think it is fair to say that what Brentford fans were signing, was abusive in nature. It was merely banter aimed to get into Kane’s head and put him off his game.

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