Harry Kane: England's Savior Of The Moment
By Ty Duffy
Harry Kane is living a folk tale. The 21-year-old striker has scored 29 goals in all competitions for Tottenham this season (had 21 in 91 previous appearances). Called up for England, he scored 78 seconds into his debut against Lithuania. That auspicious first goal places him in the company of England legends: Matthews, Charlton, Greaves and Shearer. Though, to be fair, that club includes Francis Jeffers, David Nugent and, recently, QPR defender Steven Caulker.
Kane is the quintessential English player. He’s the classic No. 9, the fox in the box and Barcelona’s long absent Plan B. He’s not an athlete. There’s nothing namby-pamby about his game. His value comes through an intense work rate, tackling and a preternatural ability to be in the right place to score. In short, he’s peak pluck.
Harry is the quintessential English name, fit for heroes, kings and cockneys. “Harry Kane,” slotting without seams into “Penny Lane,” is a gift to the terrace bards. He appears in no tabloids. He’d look startlingly natural in a pith helmet. He’s a salve for Wayne Rooney’s oik.
The debate, which will rage on its own fuel, is whether Kane can be the England’s savior, or at least make the Three Lions a bit less crap.
Kane’s sudden blossoming has precedent. Alan Shearer scored just 10 times in 77 league appearances for Southampton, before blossoming into a prolific scorer at 21. Similarly, Gary Lineker scored just five goals in his first 35 league efforts for Leicester, before finding the goal touch.
Still, we are viewing a small sample size. The counter-precedent for Kane is Andy Carroll. The pony-tailed giant scored 11 goals in 19 EPL appearances for Newcastle. Liverpool dropped $50 million for him, nearly three time as much as they spent for Luis Suarez. He scored six league goals in 44 appearances for the club, before being shuffled off to West Ham. This tweet is the closest he has come to being anyone’s savior.
Even presuming Kane ends up toward the Shearer/Lineker spectrum end, international soccer can be fickle. That tournament run that defines careers has as much to do with timing and extraneous factors as ability. Often, things just don’t work out.
Kevin Keegan was a two-time Ballon d’Or winner. He won just about every club trophy possible with Liverpool and Hamburg. He played during the English national side’s nadir in the 1970s. England missed the World Cup in 1974 and 1978. Finally arriving in 1982, Keegan went down with an injury after 26 minutes.
Wayne Rooney, by reasonable standards, has had a brilliant career for Manchester United. He will go down as England’s all-time leading scorer. Major tournaments have been problematic for him.
He had a phenomenal Euro 2004, scoring four goals in the group stage. He was rushed back too soon from a foot injury in 2006. England missed Euro 2008. He had an injury in the 2010 buildup. His Euro 2012 campaign was derailed by a suspension. Reputation for disappointment cemented, he was blamed for England’s 2014, despite being involved in both goals (and having no culpability marking Suarez).
Obviously, it’s far too soon to judge Harry Kane. This, after all, is the career stage where David Bentley looked like the next David Beckham. The best thing for Kane would be the English keeping a lid on the crippling expectation. Desperate for even a whiff of hope, that prospect appears unlikely.