Harry Kane

[McFlash]

2 more years and I think he'll be back in England with us

I'm not sure we'll either want or need him.
We seem to be aiming at youth and succession planning nowadays, back to how we used to be and I'm not sure I can see a 32/33 year old Kane fitting in with that.

Levy might get a fit of sentimentality and want him back but will the manager and recruitment team agree?
Will Kane want to be, essentially, a bit part player?

At the moment, I'm thinking that's he's shafted himself a bit with this move to Bayern and he's going to struggle to get back to a decent team in the Prem.
He may well have shat on his PL scoring record dreams now and he might have been better to spend another year or two with us, grab that record and then head off to find those trophies if he still hadn't won anything.

Time will tell but with Tuchel doing a Tuchel and beginning to implode, it might be a rocky next few months at Bayern.

I blame Charlie.

 

[McFlash]

Yep, I think Bayern had their lederhosen pulled down.

And thanked us for it.

 

[McFlash]

Also I know he played for Southampton and then after Blackburn, Newcastle for most of his career but isn’t it interesting that Shearer the player most similar to Kane in a way (without Kanes ability to drop deep and be a n.o10), has only won the premier league once and not a single other trophy.

Now sure if he’d have gone to man.u I’m sure he would’ve won a ton but if Shearer and Kane were that good they’d have dragged their teams to a few more trophies.

I think the difference between the two is that Shearer was happy to play for his boyhood team.
He'd have liked more trophies, of course he would but he was happy enough just to play for "his club".
And I think that's why Shearer still has the status he has but then, that was also before the days of social media and the added shite that it brings.

I think Harry and Charlie got sucked into the whole "needs to win a trophy to prove himself" narrative and as a result, will end up having a slightly tarnished reputation in the end.
Let's face it, the media over here, as well as the twitterati, will criticise him no matter what happens because it's what they do.

 

[Stavrogin]

I think @Trix is spot on: if you watched Messi in some World Cup games in Qatar, there were moments you could clearly see him realise his teammates weren't up to the challenge in front of them and he found some magic extra gear to drag his lot over the line.
Harry is an incredible player, but as a Spurs & England fan I've never seen him do that in a huge game (I was in Madrid in 2019, Moscow in 2018 as well as the Qatar QF vs France in Al Bayt '22). Doesn't make him a lesser player, but IMO it's the dividing line being Elite or not.

If you want to see what 'elite' is in this context watch the Michael Jordan documentary.

But i'm not going to go so far as to say Kane doesn't have that. He clearly has a sense of competitiveness and work ethic, he can keep his cool in high pressure situations. He might not have that savagery but he has shown the can drag us to victory at times.

Perhaps there's an element of him being expected to win, whilst not ever having done it - so there's a strange sort of pressure, an interior-narrative he has to contend with. Unlike someone like Ronaldo who can have a laser like focus with no distractions - or Jordan who can focus on manufacturing an enemy to overcome. Also, we should remember that for most big matches he's come into them in poor health or poor form, which doesn't help.

I've always felt Kane didn't have the mentality of a Jordan or a Ronaldo but i'm not going to write him off yet.

 

[Frank Blank]

I think the difference between the two is that Shearer was happy to play for his boyhood team........

Harry looks happy too, bless him.

 

[McFlash]

Harry looks happy too, bless him.

View attachment 137913

He looks like he's got wind.

 

[Frank Blank]

With Eric?
I think we’d be one of the only clubs who could afford him but if we’re working off the current blueprint still then I don’t think we’d go near him.
He didn’t work as a pressing CF the last couple of seasons with us and he’d be 32, extra 1/2 yd of pace lost as well.
I just don’t see the club in its current structure shelling out loads to bring him back after his Bavarian jaunt.

Much as it pains me to say it, I don't think he fits our current system, where youth and pace are paramount.

He might benefit, system wise, from Jose going to Bayern (extremely unlikely) and Jose's 'famed' low block/counter attack. Problem is, Jose would suck the life out of Bayern in the process. Still, I'm not a Bayern fan and obviously give zero fucks.

 

[Frank Blank]

Looking good at Bayern

Fabrizio Romano

@FabrizioRomano
3h

Zero shots on target tonight for FC Bayern vs Lazio. This follows just 1 shot on target in their defeat vs Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend. Bayern have also lost the first leg of UCL round of 16 for the first time in 11 season

 

[Misfit]

I mean, wait a second here, we're still sure curses don't actually exist, right?

It's getting weird now.

 

[Misfit]

Ze German media will have a field day with that if it happens.
Phenomenal striker, he is world class but it’ll be interesting to see what happens at the end of the season when they do their voting for European player of the year and whether he finishes above his previous positions when he was with us as I think the players take a lot of notice of that.
I think he’s gone there thinking instant trophies and the reality now for him is that in his first season he might win bugger all.
All this time away from his family when he could have just stayed and won the same amount, he must have thought about banging in them four goals in pre season and thought what have I done, I know I would have.

You can hear the Bayern fans already in that scenario.

'Told you Lewy was better.'

 

[Hazelton]

Sorry but this is quite funny.

 

[Spursmatty87]

Yeah, Ronaldo, Messi. I'd also include the likes of Gerrard, Zlatan Rooney, Zidane, Bale, Maradona, Henry etc. players that in those big moments rise up and drag their teams to victory in the biggest games even when the team is not quite on it.

Don't get me wrong I think Harry is world class and the best number 9 in the game right now, he's just not Elite. That title for me is reserved for those that go above and beyond world class when it really and trully matters.

Spot on for me.

 

[Spursmatty87]

I feel BBC Sport have this on their clipboard already.

View attachment 137905

I’d literally rather have Dier on a free kick than him. Also probably another reason why he’s not elite, I think elite players want to win at all cost. that means understanding the their role and what teammates can do that they can’t.

 

[Spursmatty87]

He's actually got a trophy curse on him doesn't he?

I still think they’ll end up winning the league. 5 pts isn’t that much at this stage.

 

[GutBucket]

I still think they’ll end up winning the league. 5 pts isn’t that much at this stage.

Leverskusen are on a 31-game unbeaten run across all competitions. I don't think that Bayern will win the league this season, plus Tuchel is flirting with Barcelona job. Still possible obviously but Leverkusen have 27 wins and 4 draws during that run.

 

[Gassin's finest]

Leverkusen are running away with by basically playing like 2010 era Spain, which is so at odds with how the rest of that league plays. Every team essentially goes into a low block, which is what did for Munchen as they're used to everyone doing that to them and have no idea how to do it themselves.

 

[Marty]

Leverskusen are on a 31-game unbeaten run across all competitions. I don't think that Bayern will win the league this season, plus Tuchel is flirting with Barcelona job. Still possible obviously but Leverkusen have 27 wins and 4 draws during that run.

Bayern's domestic record isn't even that bad. 50 points from 21 games is on track for a 81 point season when their last three titles have been won with 71, 78 and 78 points. I looked back a bit and no Bundesliga side has got 80 points in a season and not won the league going back to 2010, I didn't look further.

It's just all about Leverkusen being absolutely brilliant, and Bayern not looking good despite usually picking up the win.

The problem with the last two games is that they've both been crucial games where they've played abysmally and lost.

 

[thebenjamin]

I will say this - in the years ahead, sports management classes will study the Kane deal as a masterclass in negotiations.

100M for a 30yo player, in the last year of his contract. We will never see the likes of that kind of deal ever again.

Didn't Chelsea get £120M for Hazard with one year left and no ankles?

 

[Styopa]

It’s interesting that Kane has spent his peak years, from about the age of 25 to now, playing under such cautious coaches. The general trend in football, at least in the Premier League, has been moving the other way, towards a more progressive style.

Yet there’s Kane, playing under coaches like Mourinho, Southgate, Conte and Tuchel: many of them the antithesis of progressive, possession based attacking football.

 

[Hazelton]

Harry Kane is a fantastic player but he has had the easiest ride at Spurs. If he went missing in games, and he did in a LOT, he was either protected by the fans as one of our own or protected by the media while every other member of the squad was thrown under the bus, blamed etc. It's always "poor Harry", "Tottenham are holding him back", blah blah blah, despite the fact that he never once showed up in multiple finals.

He's left the safe environment now, he's been given the hefty price tag. Bayern fans and the German media won't be nearly as nice if he fails to perform. This is what he wanted.