The Hurri-Kane which has swept the Premier League

The rising star in the Premier League

KARACHI: Tottenham’s Harry Kane has taken the Premier League by storm this season, netting 29 goals in all competitions for Spurs and his performances have led many to wonder whether he has done enough to win the PFA Players' Player of the Year this season?

The poster-boy for Tottenham has impressed beyond measure and has single-handedly spurned up the debate of whether England is doing enough to harness local talent and has led to FA chairman Greg Dyke yearning to introduce tougher rules to improve opportunities for home-grown players.

The Chingford born has been a revelation for Spurs and much credit is to be given to the management at White Hart Lane and the undying efforts of Kane, which have enabled the player, who struggled to get a game on loan at Leicester in the second tier a couple of seasons ago, to become the Premier League's breakout star.

It also raises questions of whether this young player will go on to join the league of current one-club legends such as Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), John Terry (Chelsea), Leon Osman (Everton) and Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) among others in England to have been bestowed this honour.



So many expectations have been put on the youngsters’ shoulders that many fear a typical English-style burnout but that is a story for another time. We are not here to discuss what the star will turn out to be in the future, but rather what he has accomplished till now and whether that would be enough to earn him the Player of the Year accolade for his remarkable performances for Tottenham this season.

Kane, a 6ft 2in hackler of defenders, has his own unique style of play and what he sometimes lacks in skill, he makes up for with sheer persistence and the sheer determination to not surrender possession. The striker has been all over the pitch, defending for his team when required, and attacking with intent to either score a goal himself or set one up for his teammates.

Kane has scored from all possible angles in front of the goal this season and is as comfortable unleashing a 30-yard scorcher as he is tapping home from around the penalty box.

His use of both feet shows his adaptability and flexibility as he has notched 10 goals from his preferred right foot, five from his left foot and four from headers to become the joint-leading goalscorer in the Premier League along with Chelsea’s Diego Costa with 19 goals.

More importantly, he has single-handedly spurred on Spurs and has been directly responsible for 22 of the 53 points that Tottenham have amassed this season. And as the cherry on top, the player has performed when his team needed him the most, scoring a brace against fierce rivals Arsenal and single-handedly demolishing Chelsea in their 5-3 win at White Hart Lane leading to Blues captain Terry claiming that the youngster is ‘as difficult to play as Sergio Aguero, Alexis Sanchez and Robin van Persie’ — all lethal world-renowned strikers.



The last three winners of the prestigious award — Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale and van Persie — all showed remarkable attributes to aid their team in performing beyond their potential and had in more than one occasion, single-handedly bailed their clubs out.

Suarez almost won the Premier League title for Liverpool with his 31 goals for the Reds. Bale slotted in 21 but made up for the lack of scoring with his relentless runs and highly influential presence, while van Persie led from the front in his only year as Arsenal captain, scoring 30 goals in the Premier League and 37 in all competitions before moving to Manchester United.

Harry Kane has had a similar impact for Tottenham this season that all these previous winners had for their clubs. And while the likes of Costa may overtake Kane in the golden boot race and Eden Hazard may dazzle and dribble better than the youngster, few can compete with the North London man in terms of his influence on the side and what he represents to the fans.

"He's one of our own, he's one of our own… Harry Kane… he's one of our own,” they sing at White Hart Lane week after week since Kane made his top-flight debut in November. As things stand, it seems they will be singing the song for years to come.

With 19 goals from 26 appearances in the league, 655 passes with a remarkable passing accuracy of 75.7%, 29 tackles and 17 clearances, Kane is simply everywhere on the pitch and it is this attribute of a complete footballer than gives him the slight, but decisive, edge against his opponents.



It might be true that the ‘home-grown local boy who made it to the first team’ stigma adds a delightful flavour in his dream debut season, but that is exactly what makes football wonderful to watch.

It is this rare attribute in this modern world filled with materialism, that makes all the difference and it is yet to be seen whether Kane lives up to these standards or gets embroiled in the race to the top as there are many players, exceptional players, who have had a trophy-laden cabinet, but not many of those command the respect that Gerrard, Francesco Totti (AS Roma), Terry and Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes (Manchester United), Paolo Maldini (AC Milan) do for their respective clubs.

Even though the season has eight more games to go, the ‘Hurri-Kane’ has shown enough to get spectators on the edge of their seats — fans and neutrals alike are slowly getting absorbed in the magic that is Harry Kane.

 

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