There has been two prominent figures in our clubs on pitch tale over the last couple of weeks but there is a key difference in quality between the two. For all our sakes don’t get caught up in the hype of the wrong man. Firstly though, the positive….
Much of the good that has come out of Tottenham Hotspur recently has sprung from the rise and rejuvenation of Christian Eriksen who now, in his first season as a Hotspur, has 10 goals and 8 assists to his name; statistically outdoing a man of four times his value- Mesut Ozil. Playing off the left, not his ideal position, as the season has worn on (literally) the Dane has become ever more instrumental and important to our team currently and our clubs future while using reduced juice to your advantage.
He is a man that could, with a little more work, fill the void left by Luka Modric- if he can adapt into a Central Midfield role, or perhaps a Van der Vaart in his favoured Attacking Midfield role. In an offensive sense he has the lot; a lethal shot, penetrating through balls, creative crosses and fluid, intelligent movement, but must improve defensively to play in the first of the aforementioned roles. If he can do this he will be one of the world’s best and it goes without saying he really could provide the answer to many of our problems. Most encouraging however from his first season at The Lane, is his ability to pop up at key moments and grab goals in crucial games; at Old Trafford and versus the likes Dnipro and West Brom among others. It is this match winning ability that he can hopefully harbour and grow. He is currently our only match winner. There is no doubt he has already shown himself to be our greatest asset, especially at the lowly price we paid for him but his development in specific areas to play a number of role is crucial to the teams development too.
Whilst Eriksen is the man to take us forward positively into the future, one man who is not good enough for us is Harry Kane. The reason I mention this is due to the recent spate of fans over social media; namely twitter, being outrageous in praise of the youngster. Indeed, he contributed well and scored in wins against Sunderland and West Brom but we as a club are in trouble if he is our future.
I have nothing against Kane, and nothing would please me more than him proving me wrong but in my eyes he’s a stopgap, a symbol of Tim Sherwood’s. An average to lower Premier League player at best, both currently and in potential, is filling a prominent role in our team. Just let that settle in; this cannot happen and two goals against similarly struggling clubs does not change this. Yes, Kane physically has many of the required attributes, but technically he’s miles off; his first touch, finishing, vision and intuition are not that of a top player and I make no apologies for stating this. You may think I’m being slightly harsh, but we are an aspiring top four club and we cannot have players akin to him near our first team, after all this is man who struggled to get into the Leicester side earlier in the season yet somehow is now the next best thing…Never! The likes of Owen, Rooney, Sturridge and Defoe had all broke through earlier and scored more goals than Kane at the same comparable age- so he’s nowhere near that level, Fact.
Christian Eriksen is eighteen months older than Harry Kane yet tenfold the player. He and other players of his ability are the people we should be entrusting to take us forward in Europe, whilst not allowing home-player biasness to enter the equation with the likes of Kane. He is not the future no matter what anyone says- if you believe he is the future, then go follow West Ham because that’s the standard football you’ll be watching at The Lane in a couple of years if you get your way.
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