- Aug 31, 2012
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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.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.
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.