Jermaine Jenas has argued that Tottenham striker Harry Kane was “back to his best” against Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
The England captain scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory for Spurs, who played a majority of the game with 10 men after Serge Aurier was dismissed in the first half.
And speaking on Match of the Day (BBC One, Saturday September 28th, 10.30pm), Jenas was quick to hail the England captain.
He said: “I have to say, I think this is one of the best performances I’ve seen from Kane this season.
“He almost seemed back to his best.
“He was fighting, he was running.”
How good was Kane on Saturday?
In some respects, you have to feel quite sorry for Harry Kane.
The England captain has set the bar so high for himself in recent years that he is sometimes judged and critiqued to a different level than some of his colleagues might be.
The 26-year-old has a goal every 117 minutes for Spurs since the start of his career, as per Transfermarkt.
For context, Robert Lewandowski has one goal every 122 minutes since the start of his career, as per Transfermarkt.
That puts Kane in the top bracket when it comes to modern centre-forwards, and it is therefore understandable that he is scrutinised so highly.
But are Jenas’ comments justified?
Comparing Kane’s performances yesterday to his career averages, we can see that he was indeed in top, top form against the Saints.
His shot accuracy may have only been 33%, compared to his total of 47.2%, as per Wyscout, but in many other areas, he exceeded his usual standard.
Take for example, his dribble success rate of 50%, up from a total average of 45.5%, or his seven touches in the opposition box, a vast improvement on the usual 3.94.
Indeed, his Whoscored rating for the game against Southampton was 7.51, an improvement on his career average of 7.39.
This was a player on top of his game, and it’s hard to disagree with Jenas – Kane was back to his best.