Confirmation of Kane’s torn hamstring presents serious issue for Tottenham
By Gary Pearson
Confirmation of Harry Kane’s torn hamstring presents a major issue for Tottenham, who also lost their talisman for an extended period at a similar time last year.
When it rains it pours, an adage Jose Mourinho will be able to relate to more to this afternoon. The worst news was confirmed this afternoon, meaning an extensive time on the sidelines for Kane. Even more worrying is how often Spurs’ top scorer is injured. Every year something goes wrong for Kane, who was out last year with yet another ankle injury.
He always comes back stronger, and Spurs supporters shouldn’t expect anything else from their leader. However, one has to wonder how many serious injuries he can recover from before it devastatingly hampers his on-field performances. And which injury will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back?
Nobody currently knows how long he’ll be out for, but an injury of this severity will take time to heal. Again, this is a massive blow for Spurs, who have shown their soft defensive underbelly consistently this season. Add that to losing a goal scoring threat of Kane’s potency and Spurs are faced with a daunting couple of months. Kane has 11 goals in 20 Premier League appearances this season.
Spurs will have to dip into the transfer market to temporarily replace Kane, and there are a few names on the club’s hit list. But are the names that have been tossed around good enough to replace such an integral figure, even in the interim? Edin Dzeko, Vedat Muriqi and Dries Mertens are all linked with moves to Spurs, but Mourinho might have to alter his priorities to bring in a bigger name with even more quality.
Yet again Son Heung-Min will have to bear most of the weight in Kane’s absence. Dele Alli, Lucas Moura, Erik Lamela and Giovani Lo Celso will all have to chip in, but the worry is that Spurs won’t be able to challenge for a top four spot without their superstar striker.
Nobody is denying how well Tottenham have coped without Kane in the past, but he is the irrefutable leader both on and off the pitch. Hopefully the lads can come together and show the unity they have in the past. But there’s no sugarcoating how severe a loss this is to a Tottenham side already struggling with their identity.
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Mourinho didn’t want this type of headache to have to combat only two months after taking over at the club.
By never actually providing Kane with the support he requires and deserves, Daniel Levy and company only have themselves to blame for the pickle with which they’re now deeply ensnared.
When are they going to realize that Kane is injury prone and should not play four matches in a span of 11 days without support? He needs someone to lessen the burden, hopefully a lesson Mourinho learns quickly and does something about.