Harry Kane

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It's Acutally getting to the point where it's a bit unfair fielding 11 players and one of them being Kane, surely we should give teams a 2-0 head start or something just to make it a bit fairer? :kanehand:
 
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Harry Kane and his Dad.
 
Harry Kane is England's most talented footballer, but is not world class yet

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Harry Kane is knocking on the door of the world's elite, but is not there yet





It is often said in football the word ‘legend’ is applied too loosely. The same must be said of the phrase ‘world class’.


Too many players are given this tag, but we should pause before handing out such lavish compliments.

That is why I do not agree with those arguing Harry Kane is a world-class footballer. He isn’t. Not yet.

My criteria for world class status are stricter than excelling in the Premier League, no matter how long Kane terrorises defences domestically.

World class players are those who deliver in the post-Christmas stage of the Champions League, shining in the quarter-finals and beyond.

World class players are those who deliver at major international tournaments.

By the end of this season Kane might tick both boxes. He has the credentials, but until such time becoming English football’s most talented footballer is not enough.

There was a comment by Pep Guardiola when asked about Kevin De Bruyne’s superb start to the season. I loved it.

“If you want Kevin to be considered one of the best he has to win titles,” said Guardiola.

In that sentence Pep encapsulated my argument. De Bruyne is the best player in the Premier League at this moment. But one of the greatest managers of all time is telling him how much farther he has to go. The same applies to Kane.

I agree he is one of the finest strikers in the world, but it's not solely about being one of the best of your generation. The stage on which you consistently apply that talent also matters.

If selecting a world XI, would Kane join Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo in the line-up? No. Not at this moment.

Kane’s form compares favourably with his goalscoring peers, but his task is to go beyond them.

The record of the most prolific in this calendar year is similar. In 2017, Kane and Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski have 36 goals apiece in all competitions. Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubamayang has 35. Edinson Cavani has 37 for PSG.

Domestically, Kane and Lewandowski have 27 league goals over this period, so statistically the Spurs man is already on a par with the most productive around. He is outscoring Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and Juventus’ Gonzalo Higuain. I believe he is better than them.

This is why there is understandable enthusiasm to promote Kane’s current standing. You see the reports suggesting Real Madrid are prepared to pay £200 million, and I am sure had he scored the winning goal in the Bernabeu in the Champions League in midweek it would have been presented as evidence Kane has reached the highest tier.

But, with the exception of Lewandowski who helped Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final, I would contend these strikers have more to do to be truly world class. Forwards like Cavani, Benzema, Higuain and Aubamayang are greatly admired and some might argue to be part of this group proves Kane is world class. Not for me.

Arsene Wenger made a good point a couple of years ago regarding the number of top class strikers out there.

“The strikers are South American today. Europe doesn’t produce strikers any more,” Wenger said.

I am sure the progress of Kane and Kylian Mbappe since he made this comment would make him revise that view slightly, but broadly I agree.


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Kylian Mbappe is the world's second most expensive player and a rare commodity: a high quality European striker CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES


There was a time when the world’s greatest players were number nines. Think of Marco Van Basten from Europe, or the Brazilians Romario and Ronaldo. Now there is a dearth of world class centre-forwards and that is putting Kane top of most wanted lists.

I do not write this to belittle or criticise the Tottenham striker. He is my favourite Premier League footballer and if I was a manager he is the one player I would be begging my chairman to sign.

There are few certainties in the transfer market, but – injury permitting – Kane is as close to the ideal signing you can get.

He guarantees goals. He is the right age, at a point in his career where he will get better. Most important, he is striving for greatness. He has the application you need to attain his targets. I do not believe it will matter to him who is saying how good he is, or whether he is world class or not, he will want more.

I can see it in Kane’s eyes when he gives interviews, that focus and single-mindedness to achieve as much as he can from the game. He is obsessed with goals. When he turns up for pre-season every summer, I can tell he has that determination to finish the year as the top goalscorer. He will be studying his numbers.

When I read the extract from the Spanish journalist Guillem Balague’s book on Mauricio Pochettino describing Kane as the ‘best player in the world in terms of mental strength, willpower and endeavour’ it did not surprise me.

As a 14-year-old at Spurs, Kane was not the tallest or most physically developed in his group. I believe the coaches at the time thought his progress could go either way, but when they saw his dad at the training ground – and how tall he was – they took a long-term view with the player. He has repaid that faith.

If he stays fit and is not tempted to move abroad, I believe Kane will break Alan Shearer’s Premier League goalscoring record of 260. Where he needs to distance himself from Shearer is the number of medals won.

It is a travesty a player of Shearer’s ability has only one Premier League winners’ medal. His haul should be up their with the greatest players. Kane cannot let his career progress without reward. No matter how strong Kane’s affinity to Spurs, the club must starting winning trophies.

Shearer underlined his world-class talent because he also performed at the highest standard for England at a major tournament, in his case Euro 96.


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Kane must prove his quality on the international stage with England to truly be considered world class CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES


England has had other recent players such as Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney who used the Champions League to confirm their world class status, regardless of how their international careers are judged.

Fernando Torres was world class, not because of his Anfield career, but his contribution to Spain’s European Championship win in 2012. Suarez, one of the few strikers around who I feel still has the edge on Kane, is world class because of his performances for Uruguay at the World Cup and Barcelona in Europe.

These performances added to what they were producing domestically. They were consistently brilliant at all levels and collected trophies.
I apply the same logic to managers. The greatest are defined by their success in the European Cup or Champions League.

Think of it as those great golfers who spend their careers chasing a major trophy. We all know who has the talent, but there is clear way of separating the very best from the rest – those who win green jackets and Open Championships.

Kane already stands apart from every other English player. There was a time when the national team was packed with those who were the main men for their clubs – Gerrard, Terry, Lampard, Rooney and Michael Owen.

Now only Kane is the main man for his club. Pochettino may be upset about Spurs being referred to as this, but England is certainly the ‘Harry Kane Team’

Like it or not, that is a phrase that will stick because when Kane eventually achieves world class status his contribution will resonate most when we recall this era for Spurs and England


That shit is considered a good article?

It's ridiculous. Decently written, I guess, but with the logic of a fucking retard.

The idea that a player needs to win something to be world class is quite simply moronic. Saying that Torres is world class simply because he was a part of a world cup-winning squad is moronic. He was backup in a position that never was the strongest position for Spain. There's been a lot of players who wouldn't make it into our first eleven that have won world cups, champions league finals or euros. Are they "world class"?

World class surely has to be measured on quality, the level of their performances. On what they are doing when they are on a football field, not on the amount of medals they have in their cabinet.

The comparison to golfers just works as a brilliant example of why he's wrong. Golfers only have themselves to rely on, to blame, to carry them. They are not reliant on a manager who sets the team up or a team to perform with them.

The whole fucking article should disqualify the writer to ever be published anywhere ever again. It's absolute dog shit.
 
That shit is considered a good article?

It's ridiculous. Decently written, I guess, but with the logic of a fucking retard.

The idea that a player needs to win something to be world class is quite simply moronic. Saying that Torres is world class simply because he was a part of a world cup-winning squad is moronic. He was backup in a position that never was the strongest position for Spain. There's been a lot of players who wouldn't make it into our first eleven that have won world cups, champions league finals or euros. Are they "world class"?

World class surely has to be measured on quality, the level of their performances. On what they are doing when they are on a football field, not on the amount of medals they have in their cabinet.

The comparison to golfers just works as a brilliant example of why he's wrong. Golfers only have themselves to rely on, to blame, to carry them. They are not reliant on a manager who sets the team up or a team to perform with them.

The whole fucking article should disqualify the writer to ever be published anywhere ever again. It's absolute dog shit.
So, did you like it ?
 
Ryan Giggs and George Best also disprove the world cup stage theory, but they both proved their pedigree in Europe.
His opinion is still valid to a point, as until Kane does show his prowess on those stages we'll never know if he can cut the mustard at that global level.
As you rightly say, he hasn't had the opportunity just yet and my only doubt is whether the England team is good enough a platform for him to do so in the world cup.
If they ditched horseface and paid Poch to manage the team (for some summer holiday pocket money) then he probably would.

Do you seriously not see that it is retarded to think that:
1. Whether you are world class depends more on which country you are born in than your quality as a player?
2. Whether you are world class depends more on which club you play for than your quality as a player?

Kane isn't world class because he wasn't born in Spain and because he, instead of joining Man City to get freewins with a team that bought success, stayed with Spurs and lifted the entire club?

Whether he wins anything here or not, he has already done more than many winners.
 
I have to agree with Carragher and Mick here.

He simply has to prove it on a bigger stage. It's l well and good smashing four past Hull, scoring 13 in one month etc.

But he needs to also drag us through to later rounds of Europe. Win us things. I don't think he particularly needs to perform for England in an international competition, I don't think that's important criteria. He could have a quiet tournament but the team could go on and win the competition (lol) but yet Kane would have a world cup winners medal..

What player in the past is considered world class yet didn't win a thing?

There may not be players "considered world class yet didn't win a thing", but that doesn't mean they weren't world class.

You might be right that to be recognized by the media as world class, to be remember throughout history as world class, he might have to join Real Madrid and switch nationality to Spanish, but that doesn't mean that he, in terms of quality, isn't world class.
 
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