On top of everything else Harry Kane is giving Mauricio Pochettino regular English language workouts. The Argentinian said after watching the striker score another two goals in Tottenham Hotspur’s authoritative 4-0 win at Huddersfield Town that it is a welcome challenge to keep finding new words to describe Kane’s excellence. The manager, in turn, intends to keep challenging Kane – because he says the player who is aiming to win the Premier League’s golden boot award for a third consecutive season has plenty of improving to do.
“The moment you stop to work, you start to go down,” Pochettino says. “Now it is our job to try keep pushing, working. He is only 24 and for me players will get mature when you are 26, 27 – that is your best. Now I think he is about to keep going, keep pushing to improve and to learn. With more experience, he will be much, much better.”
He is already too good for most defences. Huddersfield had been commendably solid until they ran into Tottenham and were flattened before the first half was finished. Kane scored twice and helped set up Ben Davies for another, with Moussa Sissoko adding a fourth in stoppage time. “For me he is a world-class player,” the Huddersfield forward Rajiv van La Parra says of Kane. “His finishing is unbelievable. If you see his second goal here, out of nothing he created something and scored. It’s difficult to play against him.”
It is not only Kane. It is difficult to play against Tottenham. Kane is the spearhead of a smoothly functioning side in which every part is in sync. That was exemplified beautifully by their second goal against Huddersfield, which was scored by Davies after a flowing, collective move featuring several one-touch passes. “They know each other,” Van La Parra says. “They feel each other. Everything goes a little bit quicker against them. They don’t need much time on the ball to make a decision.”
Aaron Mooy, Huddersfield’s artful midfielder, was similarly impressed, saying Spurs were a class above any other side his team have faced since promotion. Asked why, he said: “Their understanding. They all know exactly what they’re doing. Where to move, where the space is. They’re very sharp in the way they think. Their movement is very, very good and makes it very difficult for you to win the ball.”
That fluidity is the sweetest fruit of Pochettino’s work. “Every headline is about Harry Kane and, yes, I think he is fantastic but the work ethic from the team, from the keeper to the end, is a big value, too,” Pochettino says.
Kane agrees: “It’s a pleasure to play in this team. I’m here to put most of the chances away but when you’ve got Dele [Alli] and Christian [Eriksen], and you’ve got Ben [Davies] and Tripps [Kieran Trippier] in the wide areas, when you’ve got guys backing it up from the back, it all helps. We’ve got a great unit at the minute, a great squad with big players who can come in. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Kane’s next assignment is with England against Slovenia and Lithuania and he would like not only to continue scoring for his country – he has a tally of five goals in his last four internationals – but also to become its figurehead. He captained the team against Scotland and France in June and hopes to be given the armband for good whenever Gareth Southgate decides to award it to one player permanently.
“I think he has said he’s kind of taking his time with that,” Kane says. “I’ve had the armband and it was a very proud moment for myself. Whoever he picks next week to be captain, again the team will get behind him and just focus on the job. We’re still not qualified, that’s the most important thing – to go and win the game on Thursday and then it will make it a bit easier on Sunday.
“For me personally I feel like one of the leaders in the team but we’ve got a lot of them in the England team. I’ve just got to focus on trying to score goals and continuing this form into October. I think the most important thing is doing your talking on the pitch.”
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