The Man City Thread*******

How does 7 England games during a month in mid-2018, back up your claim that he hasn't come "close" to the form he was showing 18 months ago? 

Especially since he averaged almost a goal a game in a poor Spurs team over the last six months?

Or is that all you got?

Kane is 26. "Four or five years ago" he was still developing as a player: i.e. 2014/15 - 32 goals in 56 games, 2015/16 - 32 in 64. He rose to the next level in 2016/17 (38 in 41), followed by 52 in 59 in 2017/18.

Granted, he had an average season by his standards in 2018/19, a "mere" 27 goals in 49 games, but that was nothing to do with some imagined waning of his physical powers. Rather it was down to two things. First, he had previously been worked like a dog by both Spurs and England for 4 years/220 games without a break, even in the close season. This meant when he came back from Russia in July and straight into the PL in August, he was fatigued beyond reason and so made a slow start. However, by December, he had "got his mojo back", going on a run of 13 goals in 15 games from the busy Xmas/NY period.

Second, he picked up an ankle injury towards the end of the season and they couldn't/wouldn't rest him  properly, so making it worse.

But the proof that it wasn't some long-term, deep-seated problem was evident this season when, after getting a proper rest in the summer, he came back with a bang, scoring eg 8 goals in 7 games in September alone, contributing to a total of 27 in 31 games before his present injury. It is bizarre to imagine some sort of physical decline in a player with a goalscoring record like that, especially for a team which was otherwise struggling.

Fact is, he was carrying the team!

And as for your notion that he's now become a No.10 in order to manage that "decline", that is such balls that I hardly know where to start...

I "mustn't be watching much of Spurs" is it? FYI, I'm a ST holder at WHL!

When Soldado - a classic No.9 if ever there was one - turned out to be a dud, Poch promoted HK to play that role. And he signed identikit players as back-up - eg Vinny Jansen, or as recently as summer 2017, Fernando Llorente. Which was why right up until his dismissal, he used HK to lead the line as the spearhead of a front three, with Son on the left and Moura on the right.

Not only that, but the minute he took over, Mourinho identified HK as the "Drogba" in his new, defensively minded formation i.e. lone striker in front of a midfield five. And since HK got injured, the two replacements he's chasing are both themselves experienced, old-style No.9's: Willian Jose (listed as 6' 2") or Vedat Muriqi (6'4").

These are hardly the actions of a manager who reckons the player is physically unable to carry out the role. (Southgate neither, for that matter).

As for Kane's dropping deep etc, fact is, as HK has developed his all-round game, this is one of the techniques he has added to his armoury. However, this is usually when he is being close-marked by a big CB who's playing in a team which defends deep. By doing so, he can hope to draw the CB out of position, thereby creating space behind him for either Son/Moura or Spurs' attacking midfielders to exploit instead.

Which is only one part of his game. For example, he will also move out into wide positions, either to use space which has opened up, or to draw defenders out of position again. As such, he has developed into one of the best crossers, or strikers of a 30 yard diagonal pass, at the club.

The point being that both of these are tactical choices, rather than a consequence of (your imagined) physical decline.

Oh, and there's one other reason why neither Poch or Mourinho ever even thought of turning HK into a No.10: the presence of a certain Dele Alli - potentially the best No.10 in the entire PL!

Hans Moleman wrote: It has meant he isn't half the player he was a few years ago, and it's baffling anyone would say any different.

What is baffling is that anyone could ignore the tally of 27 goals in 31 games in 2019/20 and still claim he's not half the player he was for or five years ago (eg 32 in 64 games in 2015/16)

Hans Moleman wrote: As I pointed out, Kane was the golden boot winner at the 2018 world cup. Most people just looking at such a stat would think he must have had a brilliant world cup when in fact he was awful. I guess the possibility that such poor form is possible despite the goal stats, that kind of thing flies right over your head.

I'm not "most people". Neither did I ever claim that he had a "brilliant" World Cup. Then again, I've never said that he was "awful" either. I guess that's because I try to avoid wild hyperbole. Maybe you should try it?

In any case, I fail to see how, whether brilliant or awful, four weeks in the summer of 2018 in any way informs the debate over a player's physical condition in 2020.

Perhaps that's going over my head, too?