JAMIE CARRAGHER, Micah Richards and Graeme Souness got into a heated discussion live on air as the trio argued over the Premier League’s greatest striker.
The pundits were all in the Sky Sports studio at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after watching Spurs beat Manchester City.
Harry Kane grabbed the only goal of the game to become the club’s record goalscorer, surpassing the legendary Jimmy Greaves.
It was also his 200th effort in the Premier League – joining an elite list with Wayne Rooney on 208 and record-holder Alan Shearer who managed 260.
And that prompted an intense debate from the former players trying to put forward their arguments for their preferred strikers.
Carragher was singing the praises for Kane – but Richards believes he is not yet at the same level as Shearer, pointing to his empty trophy cabinet as part of the season.
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Ex-Liverpool defender Carra said: “I’ve said this before, we’ve waxed lyrical about Harry Kane over the last ten years since he’s come on to the scene getting goals.
“There’s something about supporters from the clubs, whether it’s tribalism, whether it’s the fact that he hasn’t won a trophy, that it feels to me at times that people are reluctant to put him alongside Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker, Wayne Rooney.
“It almost feels to me that Harry Kane never gets put above any of them, I don’t know why, because for me I think the argument you can make for Harry Kane ahead of maybe those three players I’ve mentioned, is that Kane is the only one that could really do both, where you class him as an out-and-out goalscorer, and the longer his career has gone on he’s come into that playmaker role.
“People maybe question the trophy side of it, but Alan Shearer only won one trophy, I think Gary Lineker only won one trophy in English football if I’m right – an FA Cup with Tottenham – so I don’t know why, but for me he’s got to go alongside these players that I’m talking about, and at the end of his career I’m thinking I’d be putting him above them.”
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Richards added: “His loyalty has almost gone against him a little bit, when Spurs, they’re fighting for the Champions League, he’s always been a top player – we’ve been saying it for years. A lot of people will say show us your trophies at the end of your career-“
Souness interrupted: “Who says that?”
Richards hit back: “Everyone says that. You don’t shut up about trophies and I’ve only been doing Sky for three years.”
Souness – whose phone went off live on air – quipped: “When you get beyond 25 you stop counting, sorry.”
They then returned to the striker debate, as Richards threw his weight behind Match of the Day pal Shearer.
He said: “No, but he’s a top player. He might still win something with Spurs, you know, he could win a Champions League, he could win and FA Cup [this season], so let’s not write him off, we have to judge him on his goals.
I just preferred Alan Shearer as a striker.
Micah Richards
“I don’t think personally he’s as good as Rooney or Alan Shearer because when Rooney came on the scene he was doing things that a lot of players [weren’t], Alan Shearer was scoring 30, 35 goals -“
Carragher added: “Kane is going to score more goals in the Premier League, he’s going to get there or thereabouts, so when you’re saying Shearer has scored more goals, I love Alan Shearer, one of the greatest, but why should Harry Kane not be at the top?”
More back and forth followed before Richards added: “The way he scored all these different types of goals, I just preferred Alan Shearer as a striker.
“You’re talking about all-round game, but as a goalscorer I just liked Alan Shearer.
“Look at the defenders, back in your day, look at all the top defenders there were in your time. The defenders nowadays have not got a patch on them.”
Carragher then joked: “Is Alan Shearer in your ear or something? We can’t take stuff away from Harry Kane.
“He’s a player who will be remembered for a very, very long time if he gets that Premier League record and the England record as well.
‘CARRAGHER SPOT ON’
“He’ll have wanted trophies to go alongside it, but sometimes there’s something special about a player for being that man, that club.
“He could go down – and I think he will – as the greatest Tottenham player of all time, the record Premier League goal scorer of all time, and the England goalscorer of all time.
“Do you think he’d swap that for an FA Cup medal? Or a Carabao Cup medal? I don’t think he would – not a chance.”
The discussion prompted plenty of responses from fans watching on at home.
One said: “The fact that Shearer set all the records in a time when the premier league had a vast number of top-class strikers shows he’s No1. How many of those records has Kane broken and made his?”
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Another wrote: “Micah going on about the different types of goals Shearer scored, has obviously never watched a Kane goal video.”
And a third added: “Carragher is spot in with his thoughts on Harry. He is the best all-round CF of the lot for me.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
