I think this is the ideal opportunity to get some of our younger, fringe players a proper opportunity in the Premier League. All of our opposition being in the bottom 11 of the league so for me Kane should be playing every game until the end of the season, not necessarily starting. There's little for us to play for we should be looking to next season and I think we should be taking advantage of the chance to see who's good enough. There are other players who perhaps should be getting a look in too but Bentaleb's probably going to play every game anyway, Townsend is carrying a bad neck injury which prevents him from looking up and Carroll's out on loan. The only other player who I think should be in contention for some games is Fryers but I think he's better as a centre back and we're dodgy enough at the back as it is. Kane is an enigma that needs examining. He's shone in the development league, done well in the Championship but hasn't impressed in the Premier League, although neither has he been given a run of games. If we give him a chance now then we'll be in a better position for next season, if it turns out he can't hack it then he'll have to drop down to the Championship for a loan move but if he does well then the new manager will know he has a 3rd striker he can trust and if he doesn't want him then other Premier League clubs will know they can get a striker on loan that can cut it in this league. Seems like a win/win to me but if he's overlooked then we'll still have the big question mark over his head and the same trouble getting him a worthwhile loan move. Who's with me?
i wanted Kane to be great, i really did, but nothing i've seen so far makes me think he's going to cut it. Yes he's still young but there are younger and better players out there. I don't get the feeling he can change a game from the bench, which as a 3rd striker is surely a requirement
I'd say he changed the game against Benfica and against Hull in the League Cup he nearly won us the game in the last minutes of normal time. I think there's enough reason to persist with him, he's still only 20 and as I say, he's not been given a proper chance to find his feet at this level. I'm not sure there are many significantly better players that would be willing to be 3rd choice with us either, we're not Chelsea so we can't afford to pay someone £60k+ a week to be backup to our backup striker. I don't think we've got much to lose by giving him some game time it's only the difference between 5th and 7th we're playing for at the moment.
I thought you had to go out on loan to at least 11 clubs before you got a game as a young player at Spurs? Seriously though, if players are identified as being good enough, they need to be given a chance. If you're good enough, you're old enough is the old adage.
I was going to suggest Bale MK2 but I don't want to stall the progression of Chadli. As for Kane, if we played 442 then with the injury to Adebayor we could have tried him but I don't believe he's good enough as he won't score frequently and he takes up an attacking position which could go to Soldado or Lamela (if fit). But I'm always hoping to see more youngsters come through so not dead against Kane getting a chance as we should either give him chance or sell him as we done with Adam Smith. Bentaleb is one I believe has a bright future while others think he's average. We tend to get divided over youngsters.
Kane should have had a PL loan this season to get regular games and to see if he is ever going to be good enough, but he will only be 21 in July so it is too early to totally write the lad off, he could develop late like Teddy and Ian Wright. I would loan him next season and sign Remy.
Didn't realise Soldado was injured. But if we play Kane on the left then that would halt Chadlis progression. Kane and Adebayor? Eriksen would make way? Tricky balancing the line up just to try and see if Kane could work.
I just cannot see Kane making it in the kind of team that Levy wants us to be, namely top 4. Having said that, there are quite a few of the senior players in the squad of whom I could say the same thing, so what do I know!
I've not been alone in saying we need to replace Modric as well as we can. But Bentaleb is the closest we've come, a deep lying player who gets the ball to the right player, moves it forward at medium speed, and tackles back fairly well, even if he does look out of his depth against the top three teams. He's a lot better than nothing, and considering his age, might just become as good as we need him to be. I'd advocate getting a top playmaker in, both for our short term needs, and for Bentaleb to learn from. I still rate Bentaleb, however. Kane's looked decent enough, but nothing special so far. Considering how young he is, the "decent enough" may mean a lot more than the "nothing special so far." As nice as it might be to give him more of a shot in the few games left, I think it's more important to see if we can make progress towards a starting lineup and style of play. As poor as it looked against Liverpool, I still think something like that 11 is the best we've done. Maybe replace Gylfi with Sandro, put Chadli on the left, Townsend or Lennon on the right, and move Eiriksen forward for a (non-high-pressing) 4-4-1-1. In any case, having something that looks decent by the end of the year could help us make less stupid decisions in the transfer market.
Good post. Although careful using terms like playmaker as you will feel the wrath of YV (he hates these terms) especially box to box midfielder! Bentaleb is getting stick for being a cheap Joe Allen but ironically Liverpool fans constantly slated Allen for a year, now once settled and playing in a more organised and creative side he has become a favourite. That's what some fans will do well to remember as Bentaleb will likely go down the same path, and in a year or two all this current experience would have been vital to him becoming an important player. 4411 is my favourite formation as I loved the balance of Redknapps team in his final season but prefer it with a counter attacking setup. Just we both know how badly this team needs a deep laying playmaker, not matter which formation we use.
I just said he should play, not that he has to start every game. You could say that about a lot of strikers in top 4 teams too. Ba? Torres? Aspas? Sanogo? This idea of whether a player is good enough to play in a top 4 side always crops up when players are talked about but it's so vague and full of holes. Is Cleverley good enough to be in a title winning team? I reckon most would answer "**** no" but he's still got a PL winners medal on his mantelpiece. And then there's progression over time, how many of Liverpool's team were good enough for the top4 12/18 months ago? Not many.
It's not too late to join the Harry Kane bandwagon. You're going to want to get in early though before he scores a hattrick at the World Cup this summer.
You remember a few years back when Harry Kane first started appearing, Was away to hearts in Europe. I was winding up a rangers fan telling him he's the new Michael Owen. Pretty sure he missed a penalty In that game!
He missed a penalty which he won in the home leg, after we'd already won the tie at their place, basically. I think the keeper saved it, though I'm not 100% about that.
Clinical finishing would have got him five or six tonight. And anything other than awful luck would have gotten him two plus a penalty. Maybe three if you count Lennon's poor timing of a cut back.
