Harry Kane

msomerton said:

He is the best England striker I have seen since 1966.   

I assume you mean Geoff Hurst who scored 24 goals in 49 matches and not the great Jimmy Greaves who scored 44 goals in 57 games.
Or possibly Bobby Charlton who could strike the ball with venom with both feet and scored 49 goals in 106 games.

Ironically if the 66 WC final had the rules we have now, Hurst only scores 1 goal as the whole ball definitely wasn't over the line(VAR over turns the 'goal') and "there are people on the pitch" the game would've been stopped before his 3rd goal !

Harry Kane is immense for England and we are so lucky to have him.

Exiled_Addick said:

The thing the I like best about Kane is he has wrung every last drop out of the talent he was given. He’s not blessed with incredible pace, athleticism, or natural skill like some of his compatriots at the top or the current World game, but he’s clearly worked tirelessly at every facet of his game to make himself as complete as he can be. No silly controversies in his personal life, feet on the ground, family man - I see him as kind of Football’s equivalent of Andy Murray. If by some miracle we do win this tournament, no one can really argue he doesn’t deserve it. 

Not denying hes worked incredibly hard but to say he's not blessed with natural skill I think does him a disservice. He has incredible vision, range of passing and finishing ability. That is gonna be in no small part down to natural talent.

The big worry is how do we replace him? 

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

The big worry is how do we replace him? 

The answer is, you don't, or at least not directly. If we dont have that kind of talisman striker look at what we do have, Bellingham still has plenty of time ahead of him, new prospects and players will come through with time. We dont necessarily need another Harry Kane as long as we dont keep trying to play like we've got one once he's gone.

cantersaddick said:

Exiled_Addick said:

The thing the I like best about Kane is he has wrung every last drop out of the talent he was given. He’s not blessed with incredible pace, athleticism, or natural skill like some of his compatriots at the top or the current World game, but he’s clearly worked tirelessly at every facet of his game to make himself as complete as he can be. No silly controversies in his personal life, feet on the ground, family man - I see him as kind of Football’s equivalent of Andy Murray. If by some miracle we do win this tournament, no one can really argue he doesn’t deserve it. 

Not denying hes worked incredibly hard but to say he's not blessed with natural skill I think does him a disservice. He has incredible vision, range of passing and finishing ability. That is gonna be in no small part down to natural talent.

He's never going to be a Messi, Mpappe or Ronaldo in the way that they might dribble past defenders or a Haaland in the way he might beat them in a race. It's that football intelligence and vision, though, that sets him apart. The ability, as you say, to see a pass and know when the time is right to place a finish or blast a finish. The vast majority of the time he hits the target and either scores or forces a save.

In addition to practicing his finishing, the one part of his game that he really worked on early in his career is his left foot. That enabled him to become comfortable on ether side, so much so that he holds the PL record (along with his former teammate Son Heung-min) for the most goals with his weak-foot (40).

That ability to relentless work on a weakness is a talent in itself and that should never been underestimated. To use another analogy, anyone can play the same easy riff on the guitar for a lifetime, it's the ones that challenge themselves and never give up when things get tough, that become the very best.  

There is one final thing that might have defined Kane but he didn't allow it. In fact, he used it to drive him on. It would have been very easy for him to have felt totally rejected when ditched at such an early age by his boyhood team. But he (and no doubt with the help of his parents) used that to prove Arsenal wrong. The irony is that Kane is the one commodity that Arsenal have been missing in the last decade and they would, almost certainly, have won the PL title earlier had they had him up top.

DamoNorthStand said:

He is probably most similar to someone like Lewandowski I guess.

Absolutely true

sam3110 said:

Addick Addict said:

Addick Addict said:

Will be/is already better than Shearer? Discuss.

Some nine years since the question was posed, we've gone beyond answering that one. Not just better than Shearer but the GOAT forward and should we win this WC, he will be the GOAT, full stop. Simply because no other player will have single-handedly carried a team to win the biggest international trophy.  

Messi already did that with Argentina

wasn't even the first Argentinian to do it

sam3110 said:

Addick Addict said:

Addick Addict said:

Will be/is already better than Shearer? Discuss.

Some nine years since the question was posed, we've gone beyond answering that one. Not just better than Shearer but the GOAT forward and should we win this WC, he will be the GOAT, full stop. Simply because no other player will have single-handedly carried a team to win the biggest international trophy.  

Messi already did that with Argentina

Agreed and I meant to say "no other England player" (the original comparison being with Shearer) as I was thinking more in terms of it being argued that someone like Bobby Charlton could, legitimately, be considered a greater player given he won the WC, European Cup and Ballon d'Or. Charlton, of course, had the assistance of Moore, Peters and Hurst hence thinking in terms of Kane being the difference and GOAT in carrying us to victory. 

ForeverAddickted said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

The big worry is how do we replace him? 

Hopefully someone like Liam Delap, given a few more years will develop

Just a shame he's at Chelsea - Maybe someone like Micah Mbick even, who come from no where 

Admittedly, I’ve watched Delap in less than 10 games, but even with development I don’t see him even getting in England squad. As said, not watched much of him, so could be completely wrong. 

CaptainRobbo said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

The big worry is how do we replace him? 

carly burn said:

I keep hearing how pivotal he is to this England side, but if we were to go all the way,(and I'm not saying we will).
..But there's absolutely no way he's going to be able to play every minute of every game to get us there.

take him off when three up and 15 to go against Mexico

carly burn said:

I keep hearing how pivotal he is to this England side, but if we were to go all the way,(and I'm not saying we will).
..But there's absolutely no way he's going to be able to play every minute of every game to get us there.

He's fitter than he has been for the last 2 tournaments. Off the back of a great season but also one with zero fitness issues for him. German season finished early so he had a good rest before the tournament. If we have the luxury of being able to take him off then great. If not he has as good a chance as ever of lasting back to back games.

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

The big worry is how do we replace him? 

You can't replace the greats sadly, one in a lifetime player