Harry Kane

[Young Nasty Man]

Yeah I think I'm finally there.

I watched the West Ham halves in reverse order (caught the 2nd half live then watched the 1st half later) and after the dominance of the 2nd half was expecting us to look even better in the first 45 with Kane but in reality it was the opposite. It was really notable how much better the system looked with a mobile, on-the-shoulder number 9. I'm almost definitely reading too much into it as it's just a pre-season friendly, but equally, there's no denying Kane is slow now and nowhere near as mobile as he used to be and that will affect us as a team.

It's a little bit like Ronaldo at United the season before last, albeit on a much more reduced scale. He scored a ton of goals but everyone around him scored fewer as they had to compromise the system to accommodate him. We'd obviously miss Kane's goals (and world class ability in general) but I think the likes of Maddison, Son, Kulu and Rich would all have higher goal tallies as a result and the team as a whole might function better in the way Ange wants.

If Kane had 3-4 years left I wouldn't be saying this as I'd back us to adapt and build around him but if he's very likely leaving anyway in a year's time it changes things significantly. I think I'm now at the point where I'd rather rip the plaster off, go all in on Ange's system and get a couple CBs and a mobile forward that suits our new style of play better than Kane.

We'd no doubt suffer in the short term without Kane's brilliance, but I think it would be better in the long run as we wouldn't be compromising on Ange's ideals and we wouldn't have the shadow of Kane's departure hanging over us.

I’d like to further opine on this as I feel there is a lot of truth. Beyond the challenging for trophies narrative, I feel there is also a component of his game changing vastly since Mourinho and Conte took over. He plays deeper and can serve as more than a goal poaching 9.

After his injuries and playing for Pochettino, he must also be aware his body isn’t as durable as it was in his young 20s - we know that Ange is going to demand a lot of energy and pressing forward movement. For Kane to play into his late 30s, this system isn’t doable for more than 2 seasons without serious rotation and/or a positional shift.

 

[DJS]

I agree. But within the constraints of the ENIC shackles would people take:


Kane stays, we bring in Tosin and Lenglet

or

Kane goes, we sign Toney, VDV and Tapsoba?


I do think Kane or no Kane we are getting absolutely nowhere with Dier and Sanchez the starting CBs. I personally think there is a case for selling him abroad now if we need to. The fuck ups ENIC made were long before it got to this point and now we do genuinely need some pragmatism re: Kane. Letting him go to a rival club bar maybe City for free would be a disaster.

But if we do want to keep Kane, then absolutely no reason why we can't just sell Hojbjerg and scrape a few extra pennies together selling excess deadwood to fund VDV and Tapsoba for 75m ish. The lack of movement on the outs makes me think Levy is up to his old tricks on trying to get market value for players without appreciating the wider context.

Quite shocking with our stadium revenue and us clearly having the money (we‘re quite high on richest clubs list) that we aren't just pushing for VDV and Tapsola regardless of Kane situation.

But maybe that just sums us up I guess.

And again such a shame we’ve wasted our time with one of the best centre forwards available to us and shows massive incompetence on some peoples side…

Kane isn’t just a top class centre forward, he has been a talisman for the club and should have spent his whole career here and won things with us, it was clearly achievable.

 

[Whitey]

All this noise now about Lewis wanting Kane sold? Levy probably told Lewis there's 95% chance Kane will land at Chelsea on free..... Unfortunately that makes sense.

Right manager
Right league
Right location
Trophy ambitions
£600k+per week

How many of them will we 2.... Possibly 3....

Levy/Lewis were never going to do what it takes to keep a player like Kane..... Their business model won't allow or even requires it.

 

[Timberwolf]

All this noise now about Lewis wanting Kane sold? Levy probably told Lewis there's 95% chance Kane will land at Chelsea on free..... Unfortunately that makes sense.

Right manager
Right league
Right location
Trophy ambitions
£600k+per week

How many of them will we 2.... Possibly 3....

Levy/Lewis were never going to do what it takes to keep a player like Kane..... Their business model won't allow or even requires it.

There's not a 95% chance Kane goes to Chelsea on a free. More like a 5% chance IF they even quality for the Champions League.

I think it's highly unlikely Kane would want to taint his entire Spurs legacy. He might not be a die-hard fan but he'd be pissing on the past 20 years to go to a club that wouldn't even have a guaranteed chance of winning a trophy given where they're at.

Far more likely he goes to Madrid or United next summer IMO.

 

[Metalhead]

We won’t though. The situation next year would be very different and more straightforward.

That's for sure - he leaves on a free.

 

[chelmyid]

Will Kane be hated if he walks on a free though? It seems like a lot of fans here would prefer he stays and leaves on a free than leave now for Bayern. I just don't see it being the same situation as Campbell, provided Kane doesn't move to another London club.

I don’t think it happens if he just walks on a free. However if Tottenham accept a bid this summer and he point blank refuses to leave and says he is running his contract down - I’m not so sure

 

[Guntz]

If only Kane was willing to go to PSG

They'd happily pay £110m+ with the Mbappe money.

 

[Gpnash84]

I did think that a big part of what made us so much better in the 2nd half vs West Ham was having Richarlison playing on the shoulder to pin back their CBs and make runs behind. And this in turn created space in the middle which is partly why Lo Celso looked so great and we were able to utter dominate West Ham for the entire 45.

While I'm sure Ange and Kane would come up with a solution that would work for the team if he stayed, and there's no doubt he'd score a ton of goals, I do think that with Kane as a 9 we'll have to compromise some of what makes Ange's style so successful to accommodate him.

Sounds ridiculous having to 'accommodate' one of the world's best players, but the West Ham game suggest there will be an element of that and it's making me lean slightly more towards cashing in and making a clean stylistic break under Ange. Especially since the odds of him re-signing in a year are so low.

I agree with this. Perhaps it even suggests the club have appointed Ange in the knowledge it was probable Kane departed this summer and we have found a coach absolutely accepting this is a total rebuild. Like every Spurs fan I’ll be very sad to see him go but surely we want the club to act decisively here. I just cannot see Postecoglou accepting another 9 months of this media circus around Kane in the faint hope he signs a new deal and it’s best for all parties that he departs now. We can be cynical about us wasting the money on shit alternatives but it misses the broader point around us having a squad which are committed to a long-term vision and a system based on the collective.

 

[mil1lion]

Vlahovic'd be a miserable replacement imo. We're losing one of the most elegant playmakers I've seen to replace him with a big **** up top?

I think you have to consider the playmakers would play in midfield. So you have Maddison already but get another to replace Hojbjerg and you have those qualities that Kane offers from deep. Then you have a centre forward who plays more out and out to finish chances and replace some of the goal scoring lost. As wonderful as Kane is there is one issue we often face where he drops off and we don't always have a striker in the box.

One thing I've found is there are always players like Kane who people question how we will replace. Pretty much every time we have signed someone influential but in a different role. The likes of Carrick, Modric, Dembele were all different but they were all key players for their respective team. Kane is no different so when be leaves the influence will come elsewhere. I think we'll be great to watch in a midfield 3 with ball playing midfielders, wide tricky attackers and an out and out centre forward who can press aggressively.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

If only Kane was willing to go to PSG

They'd happily pay £110m+ with the Mbappe money.

Or Saudi...

 

[CrazyG2]

If you were undecided about whether it'd be good to sell him now or not, this is a good piece imo

A very interesting watch but i think there are some easy holes to pick in it. In terms of revenue it focuses solely on money brought in via the champions league. Having Harry in the team increases the chance of finishing higher in the league and bringing in greater sponsorship revenue.

I think they've also put a huge weight on style of play based on 45 mins of football in 1 friendly. It would have been fascinating to see if Harry had played more on the shoulder in the game against Leicester. He might not be the quickest but he's got excellent movement. I think having someone in the team that can introduce more variation on occasion is a strength. There are always games where things don't quite click and where that is happening having Harry take up other positions could work if the other players are clever enough to take up his position and stretch the play.

Either way i think i've come to the acceptance that he will be off if not this summer than next. I hope I'm wrong but i think we've got the right manager to make us greater than the sum of our parts again.

 

[djhotspur]

I do genuinely think he’s going. Just hope to god we can sign some genuine talent to replace him and improve in other areas.
Very frustrating diaby has gone to villa as I would live diaby and Toney to replace Kane.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I know we all thought mbappe to us was as good as done as a replacement but I think unfortunately we might have just been priced out. Shame as it was looking so likely…



We just need them to come in for Kane now. Think about all the fancy hand towels Levy and Lewis could buy for the new hotel with 200 or 300 mil.

 

[rossdapep]

Marcos Leonardo. That is my CF option. Intelligent, exceptional movement, good finisher and quite durable. Plays a lot on the shoulder

Probably wouldnt join until January but that may be okay.

In the meantime, spend heavily on a WF that can replace Son in a year or so time

 

[brendanb50]

A very interesting watch but i think there are some easy holes to pick in it. In terms of revenue it focuses solely on money brought in via the champions league. Having Harry in the team increases the chance of finishing higher in the league and bringing in greater sponsorship revenue.

I think they've also put a huge weight on style of play based on 45 mins of football in 1 friendly. It would have been fascinating to see if Harry had played more on the shoulder in the game against Leicester. He might not be the quickest but he's got excellent movement. I think having someone in the team that can introduce more variation on occasion is a strength. There are always games where things don't quite click and where that is happening having Harry take up other positions could work if the other players are clever enough to take up his position and stretch the play.

Either way i think i've come to the acceptance that he will be off if not this summer than next. I hope I'm wrong but i think we've got the right manager to make us greater than the sum of our parts again.

Agree with your take. I think some of their analysis is often a bit simplistic and overconfident - but there are some reasonable points made. They’re just made on relatively little evidence at the moment.

Ultimately, this is all about Kane. If he’s interested in a move then I do think it’s time to make that move work for us. Without a reasonable shot at a renewal/extension I think we run the risk of heart ruling head on this.

 

[Whitey]

Something not quite right with the 'club leak' narrative.
Kane being sold this summer is exactly what Kane wants (understandable) and exactly what BM want. This weakens our position with all potential buyers.
Don't believe for one second its Joe trying to deflect the blame from Levy to appease the fans...neither of them give the slightest shit what we think.
It doesn't make sense that the club have put this out.

Is that what Kane wants? I'd say it more what the two useless football club owning c**ts that own our club want! They can't have 2 high profile players leave the club on a free can they.... They obviously don't mind looking inept from a football decision making view..... But when it comes to business that's a different story..... Pants pulled down after a gentleman agreement

 

[KingKay]

So a United reporter that doesn’t report on spurs has suddenly got the inside scoop on discussions between Levy and Lewis.

Hmmm, file under ‘b’ for bullshit.

 

[Whitey]

There's not a 95% chance Kane goes to Chelsea on a free. More like a 5% chance IF they even quality for the Champions League.

I think it's highly unlikely Kane would want to taint his entire Spurs legacy. He might not be a die-hard fan but he'd be pissing on the past 20 years to go to a club that wouldn't even have a guaranteed chance of winning a trophy given where they're at.

Far more likely he goes to Madrid or United next summer IMO.

Let's hope sosame was said about Judus..... Kane values his legacy like us fans do...

 

[Gb160]

Is that what Kane wants? I'd say it more what the two useless football club owning c**ts that own our club want! They can't have 2 high profile players leave the club on a free can they.... They obviously don't mind looking inept from a football decision making view..... But when it comes to business that's a different story..... Pants pulled down after a gentleman agreement

Well his meeting with Tuchel certainly suggests that's the case.

 

[KingNick]

So a United reporter that doesn’t report on spurs has suddenly got the inside scoop on discussions between Levy and Lewis.

Hmmm, file under ‘b’ for bullshit.

My guess is Utd are punting around for US sponsors and telling them that they have a good chance of securing the England captain if they are financially supported enough. A few words with their friendly northern journalists and suddenly some stories they can refer their potential sponsors to to support their claims.