Spurs have been blessed with a rich history of amazing goal scorers. So many, that it is impossible to list them all. But of all the strikers that have graced the WHL pitch two have, in their time, been raised to ‘iconic’ status. One of these is historic and the other one is current. Jimmy Greaves is acknowledged as the greatest ever striker to play with a cockerel on his shirt. Harry Kane, in a ridiculously small amount of time, has taken the football world by storm.
The Juggernaut that is Harry Kane just keeps on going and there is likely to be no stopping it until he decides to hang up his boots. The reason for this is simple. Harry is the complete footballer and has the attitude and maturity to go with it.
In all my years following THFC I cannot think of another Spurs forward who is similar to Harry-one-of-our-own-Kane. The best striker by far that I have ever seen is Jimmy Greaves. He was the ultimate goal machine. He was at his best when the ball was at his feet and he could run at a defence…usually run rings around a defence. He could shoot with both feet. And he was fast. But Jimmy was not brilliant at heading the ball or tracking back to help his team defensively. He also had little interest in holding the ball up because his sole focus was on going for goal. And it all worked so well for him.
Kane is a different type of striker. Harry does focus on scoring goals, obviously, but his game consists of so much more. Like Greaves, Kane owns two lethal feet. Like Greaves, Kane can dribble the ball…albeit not as well. Kane is stronger than Greaves in the air and whereas Greaves used his speed to avoid losing the ball Kane uses his strength. Greaves could find a decisive final pass if required, but not as often as Kane. Greaves was extremely quick to react to goalmouth opportunities and could read the game well. Harry is less quick to react but has a great reading of the game and where he might be needed … which often results in him tracking back to defend. Kane uses his strength to great effect when holding the ball up or looking for a creative pass. Harry wants the ball and he will go to any part of the park to get into the game.
If we took the goal-scoring ability of both players away, it would make less impact on Kane’s performance as he consistently contributes so much more than goals to the teams’ endeavour. He will experience times (as do all strikers) during his career when the goals stop flowing for a while and these will be the times when his other attributes will keep him in good stead.
Greaves is a Spurs legend. Kane is a Spurs legend-in-waiting. If he remains at Spurs there can be little doubt that future generations of Tottenham supporters will talk about him as we now talk about Greaves.
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