36 Season Preview 2019-20 FourFourTwoTheysaytraditionsarefewandfarbetween in
modern football, but Tottenham appear to have
developed an unwanted one in recent years.
Harry Kane’s knack for ankle knocks is well-known –
he has suffered five in the past three seasons, missing
31 matches in total – and clearly that isn’t good news.
But does Tottenham’s biggest problem come in the
aftermath of his hasty returns, not when he’s actually
missing? You can’t knock Kane’s desire to play in his
club’s first ever Champions League final, but he was
a long way off being fully sharp and it was certainly
a factor in Spurs’ relatively flat performance in Madrid.HOW DO YOU SOLVE
A PROBLEM LIKE HARRY?
PREMIER LEAGUE
2019-20
It wasn’t the first time that the England skipper had
returned to action unexpectedly quickly, only to fail to
live up to his extraordinary high standards.
In November 2017, Kane returned from a hamstring
injury in time to battle through a 3-1 victory over Real
Madrid and a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, though he
scored in neither. Spurs then slumped to a four-match
winless run in the league. They also stumbled shortly
after he came back from an ankle injury the following
April. And when Kane missed 16 games in the second
half of 2018-19, split across two spells on the sidelines,
Spurs toiled when he played in the intervening period.
If Mauricio Pochettino needs to persuade his player
to take his time in recuperating from injury, then Kanemight be convinced by Spurs finding a new, suitable
understudy. However, Son Heung-min has generally
excelled when asked to lead the line in Kane’s absence.
Although a like-for-like replacement would be ideal,
the South Korea star can be trusted to the extent that
Kane doesn’t need to rush himself back into action.
Naturally, though, it would also be quite handy if the
26-year-old could avoid persistent injury in the first
place, and Pochettino has hinted at a possible way of
doing that – even if he doesn’t think it’ll happen.
“With the experience that he has now, in the future
maybe he is going to avoid some situations like the
other day,” Pochettino revealed in the wake of Kane’s
most recent injury, sustained with an unnecessary late
challenge on Fabian Delph in the Champions League
quarter-final first leg win over Manchester City. “It was
a challenge with not too much need. But he is how he
is. He’s strong; he wants to challenge for every single
ball with the opponent.”
Kane will always be competitive, and he’ll always
score goals. But unless he learns to pick his battles,
perhaps he’ll always pick up injuries, too.LAST SEASON
PREMIER LEAGUE 4th
FA CUP Fourth Round
LEAGUE CUP Semi-Finals
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Runners-Up
TOP SCORER
Harry Kane (24)