Harry Kane was regarded to be one of the best strikers in world football a couple of seasons back. The 2014/15 season saw him win the Professional Footballers Association Young Player of the Year, and the Professional Footballers Association Team of the Year after lead Tottenham Hotspur to a fifth-place finish, a Europa League spot for the next season. The season after saw him win the Golden Boot, appear for the second time in the PFA Team of the Year, and lead Tottenham to a third-place finish, qualifying them for the UEFA Champions League. 2016/17 saw him win his second golden boot, and finish the league as runners up, while 2017/18 saw him become Europes top goal-scorer in a calendar year, being the first player outside of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in seven years to achieve this feat, along with scoring thirty league goals and a total of 100 league goals in 141 matches. A Champions League final later, and global pandemic later, Kane is still Spurs star striker, though under a different manager, with most of his individual success coming under the guidance of Mauricio Pochettino, not the current Spurs manager José Mourinho. Kane has still put high numbers in these last two seasons, but there has been a decline. The fact that he is seemingly always rushed back from injuries is likely to be a factor, and this tactical analysis will look at why Kane seems to have declined by looking at the numbers, and the difference between Pochettino and Mourinhos tactics and what that means for Kane.
Goal-scoring Decline
Kane is compared to the best strikers of the world, both past and present, because of his prolific goal-scoring stats the numbers speak for themselves when it comes to his goals in previous seasons. Coming through the youth ranks, he was not seen as a potentially world-class player early on, because physically he was underdeveloped compared to the players in his same age-group. However, after a few loan spells across England (playing for Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City), he caught up physically and was able to gain experience. Pochettino was impressed enough to make him his starting striker in the 2014/15 season.
In terms of goals scored since that season, Kanes best season in the league was the 2017/18 season, and his worst has been this current season, with only 13 goals netted so far. However, itd be quite foolish to just look at goals scored, and claim that there has been a decline. To do a proper analysis, one must look at the number of appearances, and more importantly the number of minutes, and the players goals per 90.
The chart above shows us that there has been a decline though. Not only in goals scored, but also Kanes goals per 90, regardless of the minutes hes played, and the matches he has missed out due to injury. The decline can be accredited due to the fact that hes often rushed back after injury (World Cup, Champions League final), but also because of a managerial change.
Mourinhos tactics
Kane has suffered the consequences of a striker being managed with a pragmatic approach. Under Pochettino, Kane was more than a poacher, but now that responsibility of dropping even deeper than he was before is effecting his shots and his overall position.
Kanes responsibility under Mourinho, who was the former
