Harry Kane's risk of burnout presents a problem for Tottenham and England alike
Kane continued to look off the pace against Watford and his fitness presents a conundrum for Gareth Southgate
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Your support makes all the difference.With Tottenham in a desperate search for an equalising goal, Kieran Trippier lifted a brilliant cross from the right towards the back post. Harry Kane rose above the defender and met the ball with his head from close range. Surely he’d done it. He only needed to hit the target, he’d done it hundreds of times before…missed.
Kane had missed.
The moment for Kane to equalise and go into the international break with three goals behind him and with Spurs’ unbeaten start intact had passed him by. As an isolated incident this will seem like just an ill-judged header or a one-off. However, this performance against Watford turned the whispers about his poor form into cries for help.
Despite his two goals in Tottenham’s opening four Premier League matches, something looks different about Kane and it is a worry for someone who prides themselves on delivering goals and performances of the highest level on a consistent basis.
Kane emerged from the World Cup as the tournament’s top goal scorer, England’s first Golden Boots winner since Gary Lineker in 1986, but even then, something wasn’t right. He then returned to Tottenham and broke his barren record in August, but still something wasn’t right. Against Watford there was no movement, shooting, hold up play or final product. Again, something wasn’t right.
Kane went into the Word Cup on the back of another fruitful season and started the tournament in scintillating form, but as the weeks progressed he slowly declined into a fraction of the player he is.
Tunisia and Panama were triumphs, but against Colombia, Sweden and Croatia there was nothing left to give.
The hope for Tottenham was that he would have some time off and these dips in his form would be just that, however it is clear there is an underlying problem to his game at the moment. Half a yard of pace is missing, first touches aren’t as assured as they used to be, and his movement is less calculated. Before the World Cup Kane was averaging 5.4 shots per game in the Premier League, that fell to 2.5 in Russia and is now even lower.
Spurs took a fortuitous lead against Watford when Lucas Moura’s cross was turned into his own net by Abdoulaye Doucoure, however they failed to hold onto their advantage and Troy Deeney and Craig Cathcart scored from set-pieces to snatch a win.
Mauricio Pochettino put the defeat down to a subdued mentality, and while he made no specific reference to Kane’s performance, he did suggest that the World Cup meant that Tottenham began the season in “difficult circumstances”.
It seems that Pochettino could see Kane’s drop in form coming and brought Lucas into the first team to paper over the cracks. The Brazilian winger played as a second striker against Manchester United and Watford to stretch opposition defences and leave Kane space to shoot from the edge of the box as well as decrease the number of defenders that mark him, but what worked so well at Old Trafford came undone against Watford.
Tired by his shortcomings, Kane dropped deep to get himself involved, in a similar way that a frustrated Wayne Rooney would, but was often too far away from the action to get involved once Spurs had worked the ball forward. Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen both grew weary of playing close to him and Kane became a spectator to what became a bit of a mess.
A sluggish performance may have been excused if he could grab a goal and spare Tottenham’s blushes after losing the lead, but he fluffed his lines late in the game when he headed Trippier’s cross over the bar.
The Tottenham and England forward played 52 matches last season and was the side’s go-to man for goals, a responsibility that has never weighed heavy on his shoulders or hindered him, until now.
What Spurs and Southgate must now be wary of is the risk of him burning out, and carefully work on getting him back to his normal self, whether this takes a week, a month, or even longer.
Talk to Kane and he will tell you he’s absolutely fine and wants to play as many games as he possibly can, but there comes a time where his noble desire to give as much to the cause as humanly possible begins to become seriously detrimental to his long-term career.
The solution is as unclear as the diagnosis itself. England play Spain in the Uefa Nations League and a friendly against Switzerland before Kane returns to Spurs when they will begin their Champions League campaign as well as enter the Carabao Cup on top of their Premier League commitments, so where is his rest?
England could rotate with Danny Welbeck and Marcus Rashford and Spurs have Son Heung-min returning from Asia games, but the allure of Kane’s potential to score is too great to warrant being replaced.
Whatever solution Pochettino and Southgate come to, something needs to be put in place to keep Kane performing at the highest level for years to come.
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