With Bayern Munich in threat of going the season trophyless for the first time in 12 years, it is time to see if the talisman may be the problem?
Harry Kane's tenure at Bayern, whilst productive, seems to be producing the same results as the Tottenham squad he was a part of throughout the 2010s. Kane's goalscoring has been predictably second to none with 25 goals scored so far in the Bundesliga in just 22 games in the league with a real chance of breaking the record previously set by Robert Lewandowski.
However, the Bavarians have now lost three games in a row in all competitions with them even trailing in their Champions League knockout tie, having gone 1-0 down in the previous leg to Lazio. The Champions League and Bundesliga are the only competitions left for Kane to win this season and it is an upward battle to get either. Bayern now sit 8 points off of leaders, Bayern Leverkusen with just 12 games left for both teams and Leverkusen having yet to lose a game.
A major flaw recently has been their creativity. The Bavarians only had 1 shot on target out of 9 in their 3-0 loss to Leverkusen. This is all despite having 61% of the total possession. Their following game was against 12th placed VFM Bochum who managed to upset the Bavarians 3-2. Bayern had even more dominance of the fieled in this one with 27 shots taken in total and 70% possession. Despite this, they only had 10 shots on target and were even 3-1 down in the latter stages of the game. These types of frustrating attacking performances may ring a bell for Tottenham fans as history seems to be repeating itself.
Back in 16/17, Tottenham were 5 points behind with just 5 games to go from dominant leaders, Chelsea. With Spurs eading the attack, Spurs travelled to London stadium on a Friday night and yet were stunned 1-0. This was yet nother insufficient effort by the attack as they registered 11 shots and 5 on target despite having 68% possession of the ball. This loss in essence ended the title charge for Tottenham that season; a charge they have not since gotten back to.
However, Harry Kane has had these off games like all players do as he is human and prone to mistakes. However, there seems to always be a consistency with this and the later stages of cup competitions.
Kane was a part of one of the most productive attacks in football alingside the likes of Dele Alli, Heung-Min Son and Christian Eriksen. Yet, whenever they had made it to a final, they had never scored once. Tottenham Hotspur's last goal in a competitive cup final was when they won the League Cup in 2008 against Chelsea.
However, it was for England where the talisman would be more in the spotlight. At the World Cup in Russia in 2018, Kane had a chance to give the ball to Sterling who had a tap-in left, yet he chose to shoot himself and hit the side netting. That game finished 2-1 to Croatia as they scored a late winner in extra time. A goal here would have put the Three Lions 2-0 up in the first half of the World Cup final.
In the Euros, Kane had a similar situation occur. In the semi finals England were losing to Denmark as a result of a fantastic free-kick from Damsgard towards the end of the first half. England would reply in the second half through an own goal following a Saka cross. The game would go into extra time where Kane would get a penalty. Kane stepped up and had his penalty saved. However, fortune was on his side as the ball fell right to his feet for an easy yet decisive goal to send England into the final.
In the final against Italy however, he did not have as much of an impact on the game as he had done throughout the tournament, not having any clear scoring chances or creative chances. However, in the shoot-out, he stepped up for his country and scored with Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcos Rashford all missing their penalties, allowing Italy to win the EUROS at Wembley. This could erhaps be seen as an incident which was not entirely Kane's responsibility as should his teammates had scored, there may have been an alternative outcome.
Ultimately, it seems to come down to reputation. Kane has a reputation of being a top striker and performer week in and week out becoming Spirs and England's all-time scorers already at the age of 30. His individual accolades are second to none, but the ones talked about the most are the team awards. It would be miraculous for him to earn silverware for the Bavarians this season, but it is not impossible to happen.
Comments