EPL Monday: All Harry Kane, All the Time

“But is not Harry Kane Oasis the greatest British band since the Beatles? Can we not vote on this?!” 

Apologies for starting a weekly column on the EPL with a modified line from an 18-year-old episode of Saturday Night Live, but VH1 Classic’s been running a non-stop marathon of the show and it seems oddly fitting since the Spurs striker is the hottest thing in England right now since, probably, the Gallagher Bros a current English popular music act. Kane scored twice in Tottenham’s come-from-behind 2-1 win at White Hart Lane over rival Arsenal on Saturday. Both goals were typical Kane, the first poking in a rebound at the back post and the second a floated header that tucked inside the post.

Texting with a friend over the weekend, we joked that Kane deserves a 75 rating in every category in FIFA 15 since he seems so decidedly average and, yet, continues to bag important goal for Tottenham — now up to fifth in the table. Kane now has 12 league goals to his name for the season and 22 overall. Before we go completely overboard on the Kane hype train, bear in mind that fellow Englishman Charlie Austin’s scored 13 league goals for lowly QPR. For some context, Kane’s goals have won a league-best 15 points for his team.

What struck me during the Kane love-in after the match on NBCSN is how his emergence has been treated as the biggest surprise the Premier League’s seen in years. For some reason a local London kid who grew up in the club’s youth system over the last decade actually producing at the senior level is now considered a shock in the Premier League, as a result of its massive globalization and influx of players from around the world. One of the analysts, Robbie Mustoe I believe, mentioned how amazing it was for a player who grew up dreaming of playing for Spurs to actually do it. The funny thing is, with the EPL’s worldwide television reach, you could probably find a kid from every country on the globe who now dreams of scoring in the North London Derby.

Again, Kane is the exception to the rule with Premier League players when it comes to development. Like countless others, Kane, 21, spent spells at four different clubs on-loan from Spurs. More often than not these unending loans produce little, if nothing, for the parent club. Call it the Scott Sinclair syndrome.

Clubs, Tottenham included, are still wont to spend a massive outlay on established foreign-based professionals than they are to put faith in one of their own academy or youth team players, Southampton notwithstanding. Look at how Spurs invested the Gareth Bale windfall in the summer of 2013, buying Roberto Soldado, Christian Eriksen, Paulinho, Erik Lamela, Nacer Chadli and Etienne Capoue. Eriksen’s proven to be a borderline great player, while Chadli’s been useful and Lamela’s flashed potential. Meanwhile Soldado’s been an utter disaster, Paulinho can’t beat out Ryan Mason (another Spurs youth team product) in Mauricio Pochettino’s lineup, while Capoue is surely gone in the summer. Ultimately, Kane is providing the goals Tottenham expected when it paid $39 million to Valencia for Soldado — who’s scored one league goal in 2014-15.

How long will Kane’s magical journey continue? (And by the same token how long can I continue to make the same “Harry Hood” joke on Twitter after each goal?) If I could answer that, I probably wouldn’t be writing for a sports blog, now would I? Let’s agree that’s is probably the best goal scoring form Kane will have in his career. At 21, he certainly has plenty of room to grow all around as a player, but he may never find another patch in his career where seemingly every time he touches the ball it turns into gold.

For all its development warts, England continually produces forwards capable of scoring goals, although you have to go back to the 1999-2000 season when an Englishman led the EPL in scoring (Kevin Phillips, 30). Below is a list of English players who’ve finished scoring in the Top 10 of the Premier League in the previous five seasons:

• 2009-10: Wayne Rooney (26); Darren Bent (24); Jermain Defoe (18); Gabriel Agbonlahor (13).
• 2010-11: Bent (17); DJ Campbell (13); Andy Carroll (13).
• 2011-12: Rooney (27); Grant Holt (15).
• 2012-13: Rickie Lambert (15); Frank Lampard (15).
• 2013-14: Daniel Sturridge (21); Rooney (17); Jay Rodriguez (15).

Kane is not the whirling dervish that Rooney was at his peak scoring powers but is he someone who can be a reliable double-digit scorer year-in, year-out? That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s an asset for any Premier League club, especially if its developed in-house. If you’re Tottenham you don’t worry about any of that and keep feeling good, good about Hood Kane and trying to ride the wave back into the Champions League.

A quick word on Arsenal: 

So … it turns out Arsenal isn’t as good as it was in a 5-0 win over Aston Villa a week ago. Crazy how that works out. The shifts in the Arsenal conversation during the Spurs match were interesting to track. Up 1-0 at the half, there was mostly praise for Arsene Wenger deciding to sit back and play for the counter attack, rather than dominate possession. Then, naturally, after a goal it shifted.

Just as it’s unwise to jump overboard over the Villa result, if you’re a Gunners supporter don’t go crazy about the Spurs loss — despite the rivalry. Santi Carzola posted his first ineffective performance in about two months. More concerning is Aaron Ramsey’s continued non-impact. Oh right, Alexis Sanchez didn’t play either vs. Spurs.

You don’t want to be this guy:

Meh-chester City

James Milner “rescued” Manchester City at home vs. Hull with a free kick in stoppage time. Salvaging a 1-1 draw might have been the more appropriate headline since that result, draw or loss likely ends City’s chase of Chelsea. Seven points with 14 games to play isn’t insurmountable but what from Manchester City over the last six month tells you it can win, let’s be conservative, 12 games over the final EPL stretch to put pressure on Chelsea (which might need 5-6 of its starters to fall into the Springfield Mystery Spot to lose the title at this point)?

The better question to ask, even with Yaya Touré returning from the African Cup of Nations (with a winner’s medal in tow), is City in jeopardy of being passed by someone below them in the table for second place? We’ve got seven teams now for three Champions League spots, if we assume Chelsea holds on to first.

Jose being Jose:

Well, I guess when you factor in youth, pub and amateur clubs there are a lot of soccer teams in England, and Villa are one of the 20 in the top division, so technically Jose Mourinho isn’t wrong. The Special One can say what he likes with a seven-point cushion atop the table, thanks to a winning goal from Branislav Ivanovic.

Goal of the Week:

Cheikhou Kouyate can take a bow for that one, but it didn’t hold up since Daley Blind equalized for United in stoppage time. Who figured a West Ham/Manchester United result in February would end up with massive Champions League implications?

Stat of the Week:

This might be the only thing worth mentioning about the instantly forgettable Merseyside Derby between Everton and Liverpool on Saturday.

Other Stuff:

Nigel Pearson may or may not have his job with Leicester City by the time you read this. The Foxes manager had an incident on the touchline with Crystal Palace’s James McArthur late in the game Saturday.  … If you didn’t get up at 7 a.m. Eastern then you missed a wild 2-2 draw between Burnley and West Brom. … The little engine that could — Southampton — continues to chug along. Eljero Elia is proving to be the best signing in January, if only for his Twitter.

The Table:

After 24 matches:

1. Chelsea, 56 points
2. Manchester City, 49
3. Southampton, 45
4. Manchester United, 44
5. Tottenham, 43
6. Arsenal, 42
7. Liverpool, 39
8. West Ham, 37

18. Hull City, 20
19. QPR, 19
20. Leicester City, 17

Looking Ahead:

Midweek games return with four games on Tuesday and six on Wednesday. The best of the bunch is Liverpool-Tottenham on Tuesday. Manchester City goes to Stoke City on Wednesday.