Pochettino: warrior Kane “put his leg in the washing machine” for Spurs

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for the weekly Tottenham Hotspur press conference from Mauricio Pochettino ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup quarterfinal match at Swansea. Predictably, Poch was asked about star striker Harry Kane, who yesterday was ruled out of Spurs’ squad with an ankle injury until April.

That leaves him out of the FA Cup squad for sure, and makes him a major doubt for the match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on April 1. But when directly asked, Poch refused to be drawn into giving an exact timeframe for Kane’s return, saying that Kane is day-by-day, noting that it is not a “long term injury,” and using a rather... well, let’s just call it a unique idiom.

“We cannot put a day or date on [Kane] starting to participate in training with the team. That is the first step, the second step is for him to build his fitness. Of course, it’s not a long term injury and it’s easier to keep your form and that helps you to be fit quicker when you fix your problem. We’re happy because he’s so positive and when you see a positive player it always helps us too, to believe he can be ready again to compete as soon as possible.

“He’s a warrior. He put his leg in the washing machine for the team to try to score. Against Sunderland, Millwall and now, because he’s so brave. Maybe another player says ‘I’m not going to take a risk.’ But he’s a warrior, that’s how he is. That’s why Harry Kane is Harry Kane.”

Now, the emphasis in the above quote is mine. Gotta say, while I’m pretty sure I know what Poch is getting at there — he knowingly went into the challenge with Bournemouth’s Asmir Begovic with the understanding that he could get hurt — the idiom put his leg in the washing machine isn’t one I’ve heard before, and it brings up all kinds of questions.

Is it some weird Argentinian metaphor? What kind of washing machine is this — front-loading or top-loading? Is it a high efficiency machine? Should Kane use the hot or cold water cycle for his leg? Should he sort his legs into the lights or darks? We need to know these things, right now!

And for God’s sake and the sake of the club, can someone please take the Tide Pods away from Harry before they all end up in his mouth?!