Better Than Bale? Not Yet

Article by Michael Frankal

Check out our NEW e-Spurs Forum!

7 goals in 16 Premier League outings. Only Sergio Aguero has scored more across all competitions. If you had to guess in August which Spurs striker we would be referring to, who would you have backed? Adebayor? Maybe, he could have been that player if he really wanted it. A year ago, we were all hoping we’d be saying this about Soldado but it just hasn’t worked for him at Spurs. No-one thought we would be saying this about Harry Kane at the beginning of the season, but we are and that surprise element makes it all the more exciting and, frankly, incredible. I’m not one to get bogged down in stats, as interesting as they can be, but Harry’s are undeniably impressive so far this season. Statistics are, though, used to make a story in football. Find an interesting stat and that’s the story for the next couple of days. It doesn’t matter whether the statistic in question forms part of a rational analysis; the aim is to be sensationalist. Take them with a serving of caution.

In the last few weeks, Harry Kane has become the face of Superman, the Saviour and Cristiano Ronaldo’s t-shirt. In fairness to the lad, he’s having a great season. Those who mocked his long contract extension a few months back are probably quickly erasing the incriminating evidence from their Twitter accounts. He’s been likened to Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham and Thierry Henry. Today’s hyperbole, based on some stats, is that he is better than Gareth Bale.

I can’t be bothered to repeat the figures, they’re available via the usual sources online should you wish to indulge. The basis of comparison is flawed to begin with and any reasonable statistical analysis cannot fairly take place at this juncture. To take them seriously would be like giving credence to Tim Sherwood’s claim to be our best manager because of a games won percentage accumulated over half a season (and not taking into account our hasty exit from cup competitions!). Harry Kane is a Striker, Bale was a Winger (albeit with licence to roam in his last season with us). You could give Gareth Bale the ball on the halfway line with 3 or 4 players to beat and you’d be disappointed if we didn’t score. Bale was banging in world-class finishes almost every week, not including his ridiculous Ronaldo-esque free-kicks. Bale was double-marked and, literally, kicked out of games because of his reputation and track record in bullying defences with his pace and athleticism. Despite Gary Cahill’s best efforts, Harry Kane is not (yet) getting this level of attention, although if carries on his current trajectory he soon will be. It took Bale a good few seasons to get to superstar status, even Ronaldo required a couple to truly be recognised as he extraordinary talent he is.

I don’t want to take anything away from Harry Kane, he’s been the most exciting aspect of our season so far. Whether it be that performance against Chelsea or his hat-trick scorer turn goalkeeping heroics in the Europa League. But the expectations of football fans and football media are, largely, unsustainable. Half a good season and the next messiah has been born. Football fans tend to build people up, only to watch them burn a few weeks later. What’s the reckoning that when he has a period of 4 games or so without a goal or an assist the Sky Sports pundits, no doubt followed by Phil Neville on the Beeb, dig into him? The criticism will no doubt be poorly backed by some weak statistical analysis to make a story and generate clicks. Hopefully he’s built enough credit with our home fans to survive a dud period and the loss of confidence that can sometimes accompany it.

Harry Kane is a very exciting prospect but he is not the finished article. We need to be careful not to set him up to fail. He’s still very young and, whilst this breakthrough season couldn’t really be going any better, he is likely to have a rough patch at some point. Support him and give him time to develop when that happens and he could really become that superstar we are all hoping he is.

© e-Spurs 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Spurs

Share on Google Plus