Tottenham continue to find goals — even without Harry Kane
By Ryan Wrenn
News of Harry Kane’s ankle injury in mid-March threatened to derail Tottenham’s resurgence since in the season’s second half. Where, it was asked, would the club find goals?
It was a fair question to ask. Tottenham’s last streak without Kane in the autumn resulted in a string of low-scoring draws that jeopardized the run for another Champions League spot.
The man who was due to step up then, and again was expected to do so in March, was Dele Alli. Tottenham’s wunderkind isn’t quite as prolific as Kane, but he’s the next best thing the club has to a natural goalscorer.
Yes, Christian Eriksen can score — he hauled in 10 in his second season with Spurs. Vincent Janssen and Heung-min Son have histories of goals too, though not so recent histories that Mauricio Pochettino could expect a seamless transition.
Against expectations though, Tottenham’s past four Kane-less matches have been far from fallow. Four wins by a combined scoreline of 11-2 immediately put to rest the notion that Spurs’ attack is a one-man show.
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What changed to allow for such a sustained run of good form without Spurs’ talisman?
It certainly wasn’t the scenario Pochettino and Daniel Levy might have envisioned in the summer should Kane ever go down. The acquisition of Janssen was supposed to help plaster over those potential cracks. Thus far the Dutchman has failed to live up to high hopes however.
Instead Pochettino initially decided to lean on a man who only in fits and spurts earns his place in the matchday squad. Son enjoyed a brief hot streak just at the start of his Spurs career in 2015. The goals dried up — thanks in part to injury — before surging back in a stretch of matches to end the 2015/16 season and begin 2016/17.
The bulk of that contribution didn’t come at striker however. Son was brought in to function in the midfield band of three, usually on the left. There he has room to breath, with perhaps only a single full-back between him and the penalty area. Its in that space where his talents truly flourish.
He lacks the physicality to mimic Kane at the point of the attack. That fact bore itself out in the match against Southampton, where he disappeared for stretches of the match.
Only when Pochettino adjusted matters did Son re-discover his scoring touch. Janssen — the club’s only healthy natural senior striker — came into the side and functioned as a pivot for Eriksen and Dele behind him in the match against Burnley. Even if he didn’t score, he was a more traditional cog than Son in that role.
Though Son did come on as substitute in that match and score one of Spurs’ two goals, he only really began to shine when Pochettino allowed him to return to attacking midfield. He started at striker against Swansea, but his biggest impact came after Janssen came onto the pitch and allowed the South Korean to drop deeper. Son would earn Spurs the lead one minute before stoppage time.
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Against Watford, Pochettino fully took the hint. Janssen began at striker, with Son behind him in left attacking midfield. Though the former AZ Alkmaar man failed to score, his positioning left room for Son to finally reach his peak. He scored twice and hit the post once — while also setting up Dele’s stunning opening goal.
Kane made a cameo appearance in that match, and is slated to start again in this weekend’s match against Bournemouth. Rather than returning to a side desperate for goals, Kane will slot into a side that found new life in his absence. Pochettino might be in for a tactical headache, but if he can fit all of Son, Dele, Eriksen and Kane into the same side there is no limit to Spurs’ potency.