Harry Kane

[Mr-T]

I like Kane, saw him a few seasons ago on loan at Orient and I think he's progressing at a rate where, if he continues, he will turn out to be a really good player for both club and country.

Lets not forget it was his first PL start tonight and he repaid that with a goal (and was unlucky not to have scored a couple more). We should get behind the lad and quit talking shit about he's not good enough for 3rd choice striker - he's not only showing us he's good enough but also that our youth setup is starting to pay dividends and for that we should be proud.

 

[Mental_Geir]

Never rated him, never will. I will probably upset a lot of people on here but he is not good enough to play at the highest level, fact

If we had signed a 20 year old striker from abroad in January and he played as Kane did tonight in his first PL start, you would have praised him. Fact

 

[Mr Pink]

Was really impressed with him tonight. He'll get better in time as he;ll be able show more composure with more experience and confidence.

 

[TheGreenLily]

Was really impressed with him tonight. He'll get better in time as he;ll be able show more composure with more experience and confidence.

I agree.

I really don't like the bashing he gets from some people. He is not like Lennon who has been here for 7 years and not improved or regressed and has an amazing disappearing trick.

He is young and in the hands of a great master, he may well become a quality striker.

 

[faze_coys]

Played well tonight, better showing than our 27m Soldado has shown all season

 

[davidmatzdorf]

Ok then, he is too slow, misses too many chances, and doesn't hold the ball up well enough. Has very limited skill. I can see that in the limited games he had played for us already.

I've watched him play since he was 18 and I think I have seen every appearance he has made in the first team. Initially, I thought he had no chance of succeeding as a Premiership striker, because he was exceedingly slow at 18. At that age, it was already plain that the club management didn't agree with my assessment and, as he grew up a bit, it became clear why.

He's still slow, but he's visibly quicker than he was at 18. His big asset is his football brain: he knows where to go and he makes remarkably intelligent runs, on and off the ball, for a striker of his youth. He also passes with vision and brings other attacking players into the game.

I simply disagree with you about his hold-up play - again, you must remember that he's 20 and hold-up play is a skill that develops as a man broadens out physically. Kane may still have some filling-out to do. Today I thought he held up the ball very well, to the point that it was clear that Sherwood had in mind that having two physically strong strikers to whom the ball sticks would compensate for a less-than-hard-tackling 2 man midfield - and it worked.

He doesn't 'miss chances' in the sense of striking the ball wildly or off target. Today all of his shots were on target and that's pretty much typical. But he does shoot too close to the goalkeeper, which is another facet of youth and nerves. He can fix that.

I think that virtuoso run in the second half, beating 4 or 5 Sunderland players on his own, undermines your 'limited skill' claim better than anything I could say. He has very good feet and ball control.

I'm not convinced he will ever be a first choice striker at a top 4 club, basically because of his total lack of pace. But there are quite a few attacking players who have succeeded over the years without speed, by compensating with their intelligence, vision and sense of space. The obvious Spurs example is Teddy Sheringham. Another would be Robbie Keane. Harry Kane has a chance of building that kind of career and the advantage that kind of player has is that he can continue to improve well into his 30s.

From this point, he could turn out pretty good or exceptional - it's too hard to predict, even if you're a professional scout, which neither of us is. But he was more than holding his own against a weak Premiership team today, indeed he was one of our better players.

 

[Bobbins]

I said it before and this night made it only clearer to me: Perfect third striker. Will be happy about every minute he can get. Home grown, own product, heart on the right place, decent player to have against the lower league table clubs. I have him over Yaya Sanogo every day.

Been saying it all season. Third striker slot is his, and he's perfect for it. Very capable all-round player who is now consistently turning in decent-to-good performances every time he plays.

And it's worth repeating - he's 20 years old. If he was 24/25 and performing at this level I'd be disappointed - he is at the very beginning of his professional career.

Absolutely laughable that some people can't see his potential, laughable.

 

[eddiev14]

But you haven't provided any reasoning. You just 'stated your opinion' (several times) and then contradicted yourself by adding 'fact', which most of us know is not the same as 'opinion'. What's the point of announcing that you're sure he's not good enough and then stopping there? There's no point to a post that states an opinion but doesn't provide any reasoning. It's just online exhibitionism.

Welcome to the Internet, David. I don't think you're going to like it here...

 

[C0YS]

Overall he's not the quickest. But like you said he's got a quick brain and does possess a 'burst' of pace which combined with good control and technique can make him dangerous.

He'll be a really good Championship player at least. I think many people forget how young he is at 20. He could yet still develop further and certainly has a future in Premiership football which may not be with us granted.

He is already a good championship player. No will be in it, he has proven himself on that level.

 

[arunspurs]

Kane has improved his physical play. This season he has probably won every header that came his way. He doesnt have the finesse that Soldado has interms of flicks/touches. But then he compensates with his link up play. Whether its with Ade or with Soldado, generally he has done well.

He still nowhere near being a lone striker, but positive thing is he is improving.

His confidence should be sky high with his goal yesterday. All he now needs is a proper run in the team till end of season.

I will probably start him with Ade or Soldado in next 5 games.

By the way, Kane > Sanogo

 

[DaSpurs]

By the way, Kane > Sanogo

To be fair, my little sister who quit before the age of ten > Sanogo

 

[Gbspurs]

I just think its really exciting to have a home grown striker come into the first team at 20 years old. All the years of Rory Allen, Neil Fenn, Tomas Pekhart etc it's great to see one come in and do well.

If he models himself on Ricky Lambert he will do well.

 

[Locotoro]

I just think its really exciting to have a home grown striker come into the first team at 20 years old. All the years of Rory Allen, Neil Fenn, Tomas Pekhart etc it's great to see one come in and do well.

If he models himself on Ricky Lambert he will do well.

He will definitely need to fill out and impose himself more physically to follow a Lambert type style - but I can see the comparison

 

[Flashspur]

i thought he was the gnats nuts - good on you Harry Kane

 

[Gbspurs]

He will definitely need to fill out and impose himself more physically to follow a Lambert type style - but I can see the comparison

Hopefully the filling out/strength will come with age. He looks decent in the air already but someway to go until he reaches Lamberts level of aerial dominance. Strikes the ball fantastically though and has quick feet already which are both staples of Lamberts game. I think I even saw a pinpoint cross field pass too!

 

[Phantom]

When I saw Harry Kane play for us prior to this season I did not really see anything that suggested he would develop. I think that may have been more down to just how slow the lad was/is. However the other facets of his game have improved at a rate we rarely see here from our youth strikers.

Whether he is good enough for thrid choice striker next year depends entirely on if Bobby can get any confidence back and whether we plan to play two up front in the long run.

 

[MarkyP]

knows how to time waste to great effect as well. 'av it.

 

[SlunkSoma]

I've watched him play since he was 18 and I think I have seen every appearance he has made in the first team. Initially, I thought he had no chance of succeeding as a Premiership striker, because he was exceedingly slow at 18. At that age, it was already plain that the club management didn't agree with my assessment and, as he grew up a bit, it became clear why.

He's still slow, but he's visibly quicker than he was at 18. His big asset is his football brain: he knows where to go and he makes remarkably intelligent runs, on and off the ball, for a striker of his youth. He also passes with vision and brings other attacking players into the game.

I simply disagree with you about his hold-up play - again, you must remember that he's 20 and hold-up play is a skill that develops as a man broadens out physically. Kane may still have some filling-out to do. Today I thought he held up the ball very well, to the point that it was clear that Sherwood had in mind that having two physically strong strikers to whom the ball sticks would compensate for a less-than-hard-tackling 2 man midfield - and it worked.

He doesn't 'miss chances' in the sense of striking the ball wildly or off target. Today all of his shots were on target and that's pretty much typical. But he does shoot too close to the goalkeeper, which is another facet of youth and nerves. He can fix that.

I think that virtuoso run in the second half, beating 4 or 5 Sunderland players on his own, undermines your 'limited skill' claim better than anything I could say. He has very good feet and ball control.

I'm not convinced he will ever be a first choice striker at a top 4 club, basically because of his total lack of pace. But there are quite a few attacking players who have succeeded over the years without speed, by compensating with their intelligence, vision and sense of space. The obvious Spurs example is Teddy Sheringham. Another would be Robbie Keane. Harry Kane has a chance of building that kind of career and the advantage that kind of player has is that he can continue to improve well into his 30s.

From this point, he could turn out pretty good or exceptional - it's too hard to predict, even if you're a professional scout, which neither of us is. But he was more than holding his own against a weak Premiership team today, indeed he was one of our better players.

Excellent post. Yes he has certain limitations but he had a very good game yesterday and looks a good bet for a 3rd striker spot in our squad. He is football smart as well, compared to some of our players.

 

[VegasII]

Pity we don't have one of our great striker partnerships at the moment (berba/keane, Teddy/Jurgen etc) as Kane and maybe Coulthirst could be decent 3rd and 4th choice. That said, I can see Kane getting some good minutes before the end of the season. Maybe even a couple more goals.

 

[Wrenchy]