In England, football news seems to have revolved around Harry Kane more than any other team or player in recent weeks. It follows on the back of Tottenham Hotspur having sacked their manager Jose Mourinho, the team’s woeful failure to win any silverware, yet again, and the fact that they only just qualified for the lowest level of European competition next season.
Kane finished highest goal scorer in the Premiership again. To date, he has scored 166 goals in 245 appearances for Spurs, has finished leading goal scorer in the Premier League 3 times, and always finishes in the top 3 leading scorers in the league season after season. He was also the top goal scorer in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
He is being heralded as one of the best strikers in Europe. So why is he faring so poorly in Euro 2021?
It could well be all of the talk and speculation about him leaving Tottenham. You can’t really blame him. For all his goal-scoring and making ability, he has nothing to show for it in terms of competition medals – not one.
All of the furor about Kane’s future erupted after an interview he had with the Manchester United legend, Gary Neville. Many people construed that Kane has admitted he wanted to leave Tottenham Hotspur, but Neville himself denies those words were ever spoken.
But the Sports press has been in a frenzy with insinuations and rumors about Kane’s future ever since. His name has been linked with EPL clubs Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United, and European clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.
Kane is also being blamed for the lack of the appointment of a new Spurs manager, and it is true – what manager would want to take the job on with a team that needs rebuilding and with no Kane?
In addition, it is being said that if he leaves, Tottenham’s other key striker, the South Korean Son Heung-min, might also opt to go. There is no doubt about it, Kane is under enormous pressure, and it is affecting his performances at Euro 2021.
When you are at the top of our game, and your name is being put forward as one of the best strikers in the game, you have to perform. Kane clearly is not.
Europe’s other elite players, Robert Lewandowski and Cristian Ronaldo have shown the way. In Sportingbet’s list of the European Footballs Deadliest Goal Scorers, these guys are second and third (behind Lionel Messi). For his part, Ronaldo has scored three goals in the Euro 2021 competition so far, and Lewandowski has one.
So c’mon, Mr. Kane. If you seriously want to be considered one of the top European strikers in the game at the moment, you need to show the others and start finding the back of the net.
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