Speaking on a recent episode of the Football Writers Podcast, Jonathan Northcroft discussed Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane, and where he thinks the forward’s future lies positionally.
Kane has highly impressed so far in the 2020/21 Premier League season, scoring one goal and providing four assists in the club’s 5-2 victory against Southampton, providing one assist in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle United, scoring two goals and providing one assist in Tottenham’s 6-1 demolition of Manchester United and bagging two goals and providing one assist in the recent 3-3 draw with West Ham United, totalling five goals and seven assists over just five league appearances.
In addition to his goal contributions, the £108 million-rated 27-year-old has averaged a WhoScored match rating of 8.65 in the league this term, ranking him not only as the club’s best performer, but also the Premier League’s best player so far this season.
The England captain was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of the Football Writers Podcast, in which Northcroft discussed in which position he thinks the forward could end up playing.
He said: “He is a Teddy Sheringham in the making, but a Teddy Sheringham plus, and that’s probably where his future lies. [His] pace, which was never a huge part of his game, has really started to go now – naturally, given his size and [that] he’s getting into [the] latter half of his 20s – and he will need to use his football brain all the more. [However,] he’s also got that tremendous passing ability, what his brain tells him he can execute with those feet.
“I look at him and think he’d be amazing in a Liverpool system, where [Roberto] Firmino drops off and tries to put [Sadio] Mane and [Mohamed] Salah through.
“If you can imagine two really fast forwards in front of Harry Kane, allowing him to drop off and put the ball through to them – which is maybe where [Jose] Mourinho is going to go with [Gareth] Bale and Son [Heung-min], because Bale played pretty centrally when he came on [against West Ham United] – that could be his role.
“For a guy that we thought might have been a flash in the pan when he had [that] first good season for Spurs, you’re now looking at a player that could play well into his 30s in a slightly different role – it’s really impressive.”
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TIF Thoughts on Jonathan Northcroft’s assessment of Harry Kane…
From Northcroft’s comments, it is clear that the journalist is of the belief that Kane may be better utilised in a slightly more withdrawn role for Tottenham. Rather than being an out and out striker, Northcroft suggests that Kane should drop into a false nine role, allowing him to use his passing ability to play in Tottenham’s faster wingers.
And, considering the fact that Kane already has seven assists to his name in the league, a number greater than his return of goals thus far, it could be argued that the forward has already started to play in the role Northcroft discusses.