With Kane Out, Carlos Vinicius Needs to Start for Tottenham on Sunday

Barring some miracle recovery we know Harry Kane is going to be out of the match Sunday for Tottenham Hotspur against Brighton Hove Albion. However, what we do not know is how is going to replace Spurs talisman in the line-up. While our projected XI says otherwise, here are several reasons Tottenham Hotspur need to start Carlos Vinicius against Brighton on Sunday.

Tottenham Have a Decision to Make

When it comes to Carlos Vinicius the big question, the 45 million Euro question, is whether or not Spurs will exercise their pre-negotiated option to buy Vinicius from Benfica. At this point in the season, one would have hoped that decision would be obvious, but it clearly is not.

€45 million is no small fee and Tottenham have a lot of holes to fill in the summer window. Spurs need to know whether or not Vinicius is going to be worth that kind of cash and that does not come from hat-tricks against Marine. It comes from goals and production in the Premier League.

Lots of players can score goals in the alternate competitions, however it was the 18 goals and 8 assists in 32 Liga NOS matches in 2019-20 that Tottenham wanted to leverage. For Vinicius to prove he is worth the kind of money he is ultimately going to cost, he has to score in League and it starts with playing Sunday.

If Carlos Vinicius does not play now, when will he?

This was the same question Tottenham Hotspur faithful had about Troy Parrott last season, as Spurs were down so many bodies it seemed inevitable that the teenager would get some time. However, that never happened for Parrott and that hopefully is not the case for Vinicius now.

Carlos Vinicius was brought in on loan to provide cover for Harry Kane. Spurs talisman being injured is the perfect time to bring that cover in. With more than four months to adapt to the club, culture, language, and team if Vinicius is not yet ready one has to wonder if he ever will be. Carlos is a 25-year-old man, not an 18-year-old boy.

There has been plenty of time to settle-in and Vinicius has gotten some decent minutes in other competitions. Now is the exact reason he was signed, not just to score a brace in Europa League, so he needs to be played.

By playing Vinicius at striker everyone else can play their normal positions.

One of the real problems that happens when you move a player out of their normal position to cover is that then someone has to cover for them. Exhibit A of this is Matt Doherty from midweek who was terrible at left midfield. But in fairness to Doherty, he is in no way a left-outside midfielder.

Players playing out of position like that – covering for the injured Sergio Reguilón in this case – cause more problems than the solve. So while Spurs could elect to put Heung-Min Son up top, that means someone else has to come on the outside and that just lessens the team that much more as Son is clearly Spurs best winger.

If Carlos Vinicius if the choice, then Son and everyone else – assuming Mourinho plays it straight – can play where they normally are most comfortable. There is something to be said for comfort on the pitch and having players play to their strengths is the right move. Besides, if not now, what was the point of the loan anyway?