OPINION
It almost doesn’t compute that since Harry Kane made his return from injury against Burnley towards the end of February, Tottenham have taken just one point from an available 12 in the league.
That unexpected dip in form as seen their title hopes evaporate before their very eyes, and has allowed Arsenal, Manchester United, and to a lesser extent Chelsea, back into the race for third place.
Such a sudden drop off would have been unthinkable this time last month, and yet now, with their campaign entering it’s home stretch, they could find themselves ousted from the top four entirely.
Suggesting that Spurs’ downturn in fortunes is a result of Kane’s reintroduction would be over the top, but Saturday’s disappointing defeat to Southampton illustrated how the England captain is definitely one of Mauricio Pochettino’s main problems at the moment.
Yes, Kane did net his side’s opener in that game, as he did against Burnley on his return, and as he managed to do from the spot against Arsenal last weekend, but that only tells half of the story.
Three goals in four matches is an impressive return for any striker regardless of level of reputation, but when you have set standards as high as Kane has, and when your side relies on you as much as Spurs rely on the 25-year-old, then impressive isn’t always good enough.
Since his return from the ankle injury he sustained in January, Kane has also frittered away a number of chances that you would expect him to bury on any other day.
It happened against Burnley, and it happened again against Southampton on Saturday.
Kane isn’t the cause of Tottenham’s current woes, but if he puts away those opportunities in the manner you would expect him to then they’re six points better off at least, and talk of a collapse is brushed under the carpet.
The captain is a formidable player, even when he isn’t on top of his game, but the sooner he rekindles the kind of electric form that makes him the player he is, the better.