Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel has no doubt Harry Kane will handle the scrutiny in Germany and believes he is already “inspiring” his team-mates ahead of Friday’s Bundesliga opener at Werder Bremen.
Kane’s debut off the bench last Saturday failed to go to plan and his wait for a first trophy goes on after RB Leipzig inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Bayern in the DFL-Supercup.
Tuchel, who was critical of his squad after the match, confirmed Kane, who signed last weekend from Tottenham for an initial £100million, would start Friday’s fixture.
💬 Tuchel on Kane: "He will start tomorrow as long as nothing happens today. His presence has an extremely positive influence on all of us. He gives 100% in every training session and it's entertaining watching him. We have already done a few finishing drills during which he was… pic.twitter.com/a6YTXX3786
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) August 17, 2023
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He told a press conference: “I don’t think it is going to be the first time in his career (he has been under pressure), so that is why he will learn to transfer the pressure into performance and stay relaxed.
“It is not about life or death. It is a game, a competitive game and he has proved for about 10 years how he does it, so I am not worried about Harry.
“The Harry Kane effect will not be gone (if we lose). It is the way he works in training, in the locker room, his professionalism, the way he goes about things and how humble he is in training, how keen he is in training.
“The way he acts after such a game, after a loss, he is the first on the training pitch, he works with the reserve players, he is the one walking ahead who is inspiring others. That is what makes that transfer fee (worthwhile), not only his goal-scoring record but all the other things as well.
“That is what really makes him a big star and all the other personalities in sport as well, so that is the Harry Kane effect and why he raises our chances of winning tomorrow massively.
“Obviously we won’t win every game just because he is there and, even when the Harry Kane effect is there in full effect, it still doesn’t mean we’ll win every game, but that is why I was fighting for him to come here. As far as all the things I have seen, I really feel that it was worth it.”
Tuchel faced repeated questions on Thursday about the public dressing down of his players in the wake of their defeat to Leipzig.
He called on the squad to learn from Kane and his attitude after a tumultuous five months since his March appointment, with Tuchel losing more games than predecessor Julian Nagelsmann last season.
“I understand this criticism was received as tough criticism, but I was honest. I was talking about the way I feel, and my disappointment was really big,” Tuchel said.
“After losing 3-0 it doesn’t matter what I say ,because it would go in all directions anyway. I don’t know what to say in order to please everybody and I don’t know whether I want that.
“I try to be authentic and that is what I was. Maybe it wasn’t the most diplomatic way to go about things, but if I tried to be diplomatic people would have asked, ‘Was he at the right game?’
“I take it personally losing. I wish we all go about things this way and be more resilient.”
Tuchel will soon be boosted by the return of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who recently had a second operation after suffering a broken leg while skiing last December.
Thomas Müller and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting will be part of Friday’s squad, but Bouna Sarr, Noussair Mazraoui and Serge Gnabry will need to be checked on.
Tuchel added: “The small operation performed on Manuel worked and the prognosis is he will be back in (team) training in a shorter period of time than we thought so it is generally positive.
“The past couple of days I saw him in training and I am not a rehab expert, but what I saw was really impressive and looked really good.
“I think he will be back in team training in the next couple of weeks.”
