Kane cut a forlorn figure in Tottenham’s defeat to Chelsea and appeared to have given up just weeks after his hopes of a transfer to Manchester City finally collapsed
Video Unavailable
Spurs 0-3 Chelsea – Nuno reaction
I told you about Harry Kane, didn’t I?
He’s done at Tottenham.
But if he thinks downing tools or being moody will get him a move to Manchester City — or any other club, for that matter — in January or next summer then he’s very much mistaken.
Clubs will pay the dough for a focused Kane but not a pale imitation of the goalscorer supreme who gets just 10 goals this season.
So if he wants City to come again then he must stop moping and get about doing the business just as he always has done.
By the looks of City’s goalless draw against Southampton on Saturday, they could do with an in-form Kane as well.
(
Image:
Getty Images)
And I’m starting to wonder if they spent their £100million on the wrong England superstar in the summer when they snapped up Jack Grealish.
Liverpool’s strikers — Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota — have scored in each of their five Premier League games, with 10 goals between them.
Whereas City’s Ferran Torres and Gabriel Jesus have managed just two.
While it’s still early days, Torres and Jesus have to at least stay level with the Liverpool lads to make the superiority their side have over the Reds in terms of midfield creativity count.
If you look at the stats, Pep Guardiola’s men had 16 shots against Southampton and only one on target.
Against Palace that same afternoon, Liverpool had 10 and scored with three.
If Guardiola is looking at the stats — you know as well as I that he will be — and he’s seeing all that then it’s going to be frustrating for him.
That’s why I’m wondering if the spat he had with City fans last week was really about them not turning up or if something else is getting to him.
It might be a case of him feeling a bit like, ‘You know what, I’m happy with Grealish, he’s scored a good goal already and chipped in with a couple of assists, but in terms of the league form overall we’ve not hit our straps yet’.
And maybe the fans not turning up was just the easiest thing to have a pop at.
For him to then double down when the fans hit back by saying, ‘Well, if you don’t want me here…’ was odd, though.
And while I’m not saying it will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, it does look very much like a loose thread that could pull and pull if Guardiola and City aren’t careful.
(
Image:
REUTERS)
Fair play to the City supporters’ clubs, though.
There must be a lot of pressure on them to fall in line given the trophies they’ve won in recent years and the investment that has been made, but they said, ‘No, we completely disagree with what the manager is saying’, and good on them for that.
Because it’s one thing biting back when fans questions managers over tactics but another altogether to dig them out for not turning up.
After all, while Guardiola is on £17million-odd a year, many of those being asked to fork out more money on top of their season tickets will be on the minimum wage.
And it’s with that in mind that you wonder if Kane isn’t the only one sulking that things didn’t work out in the summer.
Read More
Read More
