Excellently Efficient Kane a Throwback to Strikers of Old

With his two goals against Bournemouth on Sunday, Harry Kane joined a very select group. He is one of only five English players to have scored 20 or more goals in successive Premier League seasons, along with Alan Shearer, Andy Cole, Robbie Fowler and Les Ferdinand. All the doubts of early season, when he couldn’t score until his seventh league game, seem a long time ago now.
 
His quality isn’t in doubt and if it is a case of either Kane or Wayne Rooney starting for England at the Euros, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to mount an argument for the Manchester United man. Yet equally, Kane’s abilities are far from eye-catching. Although he is capable of spectacular goals – most notably this season his fearsome strike from a narrow angle against Arsenal in the north London derby – he is not somebody who would necessarily stand out to an outsider watching him play for the first time.
 
He is not especially quick, he is not especially physically imposing and he doesn’t dazzle with fancy footwork. There’s something pleasingly old-fashioned about him that goes beyond a haircut that would be at home in any RAF mess during the Second World War. His principle gift, perhaps, is his reading of the game, his capacity to manufacture shooting chances for himself.
 
The stats bear that out. Only Philippe Coutinho averages more shots per game than Kane’s 4.1, which places him level with Sergio Aguero. At nothing else is he exceptional.
 
He completes 1.2 dribbles per game, placing him joint 65th in the league in that metric, behind, among others, Anthony Martial, Aguero, Bojan and Roberto Firmino. He wins 2.1 aerials per game, the joint-60th best in the league in a metric headed by Rudy Gestede, Troy Deeney, Christian Benteke and Dieumerci Mbokani.

 
He has managed just one assist this season, suggesting how focused his game is on goalscoring, how little he feels the need to drop off or pull wide. That said, it would be misleading to suggest he never involves himself in creative play. He averages 1.2 key passes per game, the joint 54th best record in the league in a field that is led by Mesut Ozil, Dimitri Payet and Kevin De Bruyne. That’s 50% more than last season, suggesting it is an area of his game that is developing (although he effected five assists last season, perhaps suggesting that record of just one this season is anomalous).
 
He wins the ball back with tackles or interceptions 1.4 times per game – a vital part of Tottenham’s pressing game. That might not be quite up to the levels of Deeney or Sadio Mane, but it is high for a centre-forward (and both Deeney and Mane, it should be noted, rarely play as the out-and-out front man).
 
Kane’s other great asset is his capacity to keep going. Perseverance may seem a very English virtue, but Kane has played the ninth-most minutes of anybody in the Premier League this season. Of the eight players ahead of him, three are goalkeepers and none are out and out forwards (Jamie Vardy is tenth).
 
All of which sounds like damning with faint praise. Kane is quite good at some of the attributes of a centre-forward but not outstanding at any, while his main virtues are that he plays a lot, has lots of shots and works hard to win the ball back. But that, perhaps, is to downplay his range of strengths, the fact that he can threaten on the ground or in the air, from close range or from distance.
 
His effectiveness, certainly, can’t be doubted. Kane may not be spectacular in the way other forwards can be, but he is on course to be the Premier Leagues first English top goalscorer since Kevin Phillips in 2000.

Will Kane end the season as the Premier League's top scorer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below