Was it the call which defined the game? It’s impossible to know whether things could have been different for Tottenham, but the decision to start Harry Kane and leave Lucas Moura on the bench certainly felt fateful.
When the team sheets came out before kick off, fans must have scrolled once, twice, three times on phone screens – eyes scanning frantically – in search of the name of the man who scored the hat-trick in Amsterdam which sent them to the Champions League final. Instead, Mauricio Pochettino went with Kane up front with Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen either side of him, Moura shunted out entirely where many thought that Pochettino would seek to accommodate him alongside Spurs’ miracle returnee.
Having not featured in a competitive context since he damaged his ankle ligaments against Manchester City in early April – an injury which was supposed to keep him out for the season – there were murmurs over Kane’s match fitness when it became apparent that he would be available to feature. Where few doubted that Pochettino would use Kane in some capacity given his talismanic status, he was not necessarily expected to complete the full 90 minutes.
It was obvious at half-time that things were not right up front, Kane having seen only 11 touches of the ball in the first half. Barring a couple of runs in behind by Son, Spurs’ attack lacked sharpness and penetration. Kane seemed reticent going forwards and too often dropped deep, a pattern which it was hard not to interpret as a sign of a striker who was not at his physical peak.
Sharpness and penetration were exactly what Moura brought to Spurs’ forward line when they tore through Ajax to reach the final. In Amsterdam, he dribbled at speed, ran directly at the centre-backs and dragged defenders about like ragdolls, chaos and disorganisation following after him like the Grim Reaper hot on the heels of the Four Horsemen. Though Ajax did not have Virgil van Dijk to protect them, the final still seemed to be crying out for Moura’s high tempo. Indeed, when he came on for Harry Winks after 66 minutes, Spurs looked like a different team.
Sense of urgency
Where Kane was overwhelmed by Van Dijk’s smothering reach, Moura managed to be incisive even against a Liverpool defence at its dynamic best. He jinked, he scampered, he almost capitalised on a follow-up from a Son effort only to see his mishit shot saved by the towering Alisson. He injected a sense of urgency into an attack which had been one-paced without him; not that Kane was unwilling, more unable. Before Divock Origi killed the game late on, Moura seemed to be causing Liverpool some creeping fear.
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Would the outcome have been different had Moura started or come on earlier? Maybe, though in reality Moussa Sissoko’s disastrous handball after one minute would have made life very difficult for Tottenham either way. While Pochettino deserves enormous credit for getting Spurs to the Champions League final – an achievement which should not be diminished by a cruel result stemming from a penalty which he could never have accounted for – he will probably reflect on his decision to start Kane and sideline Moura as a gamble which failed to pay off.
Moura, meanwhile, may wish that his manager had shown more faith in him.