Funny how nobody seems to be criticising/reviewing the career of Lineker as a supreme 6 yd box predator. If Kane scores 20 PL goals this season, he will be the first since Thierry Henry to do so in 3 consecutive seasons, and the first Englishman to do so since Shearer.
The criticism of Kane is unfair. He's looked below par but even if you extrapolate his prem figures thus far (2 in 5) over the whole season he'd still end up with 15 prem goals, which would have been good enough for 6th top scorer last season. We're ****ing lucky to have him, don't wish him away.
He'd net quite a few more tap-ins if some players shot across the keeper more as opposed to going 'near post' as happened too often yesterday. Harry Kane scores all types of goals - headers, pile-drivers from outside the box, close range, penalties, everything. That's pretty rare these days and why he's such a valuable commodity and excellent player.
In think the only criticism is that he looks knackered. I wouldn't associate myself with any comments calling his talent or commitment into question, he just looks drained and in need of a rest.
Either knackered or low on confidence, i'd agree. DGC was saying he hopes he doesn't play however. It's not quite as simple as that though. This is a young lad (still), dropping him could have dire consequences on his confidence. Poch sees him every damn day and if he is picking him then he feels that is best for both the team and Harry. He went out out bought Janssen which shows he knows that having no backup/competition for Harry was not a good situation and i'm positive he means to give Janssen time on the pitch as he wouldn't have spent so much on him otherwise. But we're 5 games in and Janssen is still acclimatising. Also, in terms of the team, in just 2 seasons Kane has gone from basically a nobody to the talisman of a top 4 team. Dropping your talisman has effects on the team, it can get in their heads. In short, its nowhere near as simple as "something looks wrong with Kane, drop him"
Am I the only person who thought Kane worked hard yesterday and was a clear benifit to the overall performance? He was often winning the ball out wide, which is better than remaining in the centre where there was no supply.
I thought that he was isolated, due to Alli's fairly below par performance, but still did pretty well. Produced a few nice moments, created a few chances and tested PIckford on a couple of occasions too, despite a lack of service. He wasn't back to his best, by any means, but he didn't have a bad game.
He got better at it as the game wore on and spaces started to open in the Sunderland car park, especially after we'd scored. I agree with PNP and others - the main problem so far this season hasn't been Kane per se, it has been the overall lack of cutting-edge from the '3' who are meant to support him. Our two best performances so far - Stoke and yesterday - saw outstanding performances from 2 of the '3' at the time; Eriksen and Son respectively. Kane will struggle to hit the heights of the last 2 seasons unless all 3 click like they did last season. Resemblances to AVB's treacle pudding recipe are accurate - too often we dominate the opposition but get all intricate and faffy in the final third. As last season wore on, the faff slowly vanished and was replaced by what can only be described as 'quicksilver'. I'm confident we can get that back before long. At the end of the day, whilst it would be nice to win every game 4-0 that simply isn't going to happen at this level. Even Ferguson's all-conquering United teams built their success on eking out 1-0 and 2-1 victories: it's what champions are made of and is without a shadow of a doubt what has let City and Arsenal down consistently over the past few years: they play/played every game wanting to win it 4-0 but can't cope when they go a goal down or concede a late equaliser. Leicester's success last season was built on around a dozen 1-0 victories and as long as our football remains true to the Tottenham way, I couldn't care less what the score is.
I think PNP has a point, and it's not the first time playing for either Spurs or England. I don't think lone striker is his ideal position. But if you're going to play him there, at least try to make sure he gets something to feed off. He is a natural striker. He mostly has the instinct to be in the right place at the right time. He's going through a bit of a bare patch, but that happens to all strikers.
I'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong...... I recall reading/hearing that despite the number of goals Kane scored as a youth he actually played slightly deeper back in those days. He wasn't a lone forward leading the line.
I watched Arsenal's game on the weekend in the pub and they nearly blew a very easy win. 2-0 up and playing against ten men, then the complacency set in. Pissing about, letting the pace drop and failing to pick up runs. Lazy and unprofessional. Mason plays one good ball and suddenly the game's back in the balance. Cech gives away a penalty, Snodgrass dispatches it and the points are at stake when they never should've been. They won in the end, but it shows what happens when you're not ruthless and don't put teams down when you can.
They're playing Chelsea next so will need all their concentration. I never thought I'd say I want an Arsenal win.
I really don't want an Arsenal win. They're a better side than Chelsea at the moment, for me. Costa will be well up for that one and they need to stop being dumb and engaging him when he starts being aggressive. They had three players sent off against Chelsea last season and lost both games.
In his final major season in the U21s, he was in the front 3 of a 4-3-3. His work a bit deeper than the front line (link play, shooting etc) was just as good as it is right now.
The Goons are playing better than Chelsea and are due a win then PleaseNotPoll. I'm predicting an Arsenal win.
My concern is that he won't return to his normal form.Let's see how the team does without him for a few matches. Often a team relies too heavily on one player and will play that player even if he's off form and his absence then frees up other players. Let's see.
