Although Tottenham are the only unbeaten side in the Premier League right now, their form has been questionable and many will be wondering if Mauricio Pochettino can actually deliver on last season’s promise filled performance when Spurs were in the reckoning for the league title until the very end, only to succumb to some last minute pressure and hand Leicester the incentive to go on and win their first ever Premier League. The Argentine manager will certainly be hoping for no handouts as such this season.
If their early season form is anything to go by, Spurs have quite a long season ahead of them. They have found themselves in the midst of a couple of mixed results which have had a say in their Premier League place, which is a dismal 5th. It’s not just the position that will irk the Spurs’ fans, but it is also the nature in which they are playing. The one stand-out result so far for Spurs this season came in the form of a 2-0 win over mighty Manchester City. Pep’s team had no answers for Pochettino’s Spurs team who had a comfortable, untested night and City slipped to their first loss under Pep Guardiola.
Their defensive record has been excellent this season. With only 6 goals conceded, Spurs are the League’s tightest defence. Only Chelsea, who have conceded 9 goals, come close to Spurs in terms of the excellence of the stat; least goals conceded. On the other hand, goal-scoring is something the Spurs team have had a harder time with. They have been unable to get through defences at times this season and have been over-reliant on their defensive solidarity to get them through games. Spurs have just scored 3 goals in their last six games in all competitions. All 3 of those goals have come from the penalty spot, which is really poor considering Spurs are a team that should be in line for some silverware, come the end of the season.
With this kept in mind, the return of Harry Kane, who is rated at €110.8m by the CIES Football Observatory, from injury will come as a timely boon for Mauricio Pochettino. In the absence of Kane, Tottenham have lacked an outlet up front. Vincent Janssen was brought in to compete for a place with Kane but in the time the Dutchman was offered, he didn’t do much to stake a claim for himself in this Tottenham side. Kane’s return will now obviously mean that Janssen will be relegated to the bench. Without Kane, the attacking side of Tottenham simply failed to function. Yes, Janssen held the ball up well but couldn’t do any more with it as Spurs looked lackadaisical at times. In 6 Premier League games this season, Kane has scored 3 and assisted 1. His return to the starting XI against Arsenal in the North London Derby came as a timely call for Spurs fans. He looked rusty and not at his flying best, but scored the penalty that equalized matters for a Spurs side who rallied well in the second half to hold on for a well-deserved 1-1 draw.
Thus the importance of Harry Kane cannot be emphasized on enough. He is a vital cog in the Spurs squad. Vincent Janssen cannot be relied upon and Spurs’ need to keep Harry Kane fit in order to have a chance of achieving something this season. Harry Kane along with Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela are the most likely Spurs players to make the headlines this term. All will be looking to combine and give Mauricio Pochettino another fine season.