Premier League

Hamann: Tottenham will nosedive without Kane

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Image for Hamann: Tottenham will nosedive without Kane

Didi Hamann reckons that Tottenham’s form will take a turn for the worse now that striker Harry Kane is injured – and says that Fernando Llorente is not a suitable replacement.

The Spurs mainstay – who has 20 goals in 31 appearances for Mauricio Pochettino’s side – is sidelined with an ankle injury until March, and Hamann says that this will have consequences for the North London side.

He adds that a player who has scored as many goals as Kane is very difficult to replace – impossible in fact – and says that this should be a concern for Pochettino, especially with the quality of the teams around them in the Premier League at the moment.

“I can see them nosediving. Everything about the way Tottenham play is based around supplying Harry Kane and 33-year-old Fernando Llorente is a poor alternative,” he said in his Racing Post column.

“A man who has scored at least 21 goals in each of the last four seasons is pretty much impossible to replace.

“Given the quality of the clubs at the top of the Premier League it won’t take too many poor results for a team to backpedal and that has to be the fear for Spurs.”

OPINION

It does not take an expert to assume that Tottenham will suffer without the impact of Kane – most teams would fear being without a striker who has scored a total of 20 goals half way through the season. Hamann is right though, fringe player Llorente is a poor replacement for the England captain, and this is when Spurs will start to see their form take a turn for the worst. Like he pointed out, replacing Kane is “impossible”, and this is something that Pochettino will find out until he is back in March. What the manager will decide to do about who spearheads the attack remains to be seen – he could use an attacking midfielder for all we know – but Llorente just is not an option if this criticism is anything to go by. Tottenham’s attacking prowess will seriously derail if he plays, as he is just not at the standard required to compete with the club’s rivals.

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