Harry Kane at the time of writing is the Premier League’s leading assist provider, with six
of those assists coming for Son Heung-Min goals. The Kane-Son axis could be this season’s version
of Mahrez-Vardy, or Lampard-Drogba, but is this a reinvention of Kane from scorer to provider?
Kane has consistently contributed assists, as this table of his Spurs career excluding
penalties shows, but there has been a huge growth in his ability to set up others.
Kane has always been a striker who dropped off, and his passing is underappreciated,
probably because his goal-scoring ability has always taken precedence
in any assessment, which is natural as a striker.
Kane’s crossing has always been good. His cross for Erik Lamela against Crystal Palace
in September 2019 is a great example of how he can whip in a low ball to find a runner – and
his ability to move wide works well *if* Spurs have runners coming from deep or,
as with Lamela against Palace, stretching the play by coming from the far side to the ball.
In fact, Kane’s through-passing and ability to create was, in the past, often most seen in wide
areas. He can slide a pass into the channel between the full back and centre back for an
overlapping run, drift in teasing crosses from the right half space that bend away from the keeper –
as he did for a Son header against Huddersfield in March 2018 - or angle them in from the left.
So, what’s changed?
There are a number of main reasons why Kane’s innate ability to create with
a sublime range of passing is to the fore now.
Firstly, Spurs have changed their approach play under Mourinho. The intricacy of passing around
the box, which did see Kane drop off for runners moving past him, but in much tighter spaces,
has gone and made way for a more counter-attacking approach.
This allows Kane to drop deeper and play longer passes, but also crucially
opens up space for the athleticism of Son, Moura, Bergwijn, and, in the future, Bale.
The key is that Kane is being found between the lines, either after a press-breaking run or a
penetrative pass, but with runners ahead of him, and deep enough that his passes can go into space.
These runners are either cutting from out to in, typically the runs of Son Heung-Min or
Lucas Moura, or Kane is himself in a slightly wider position and able to slide a pass through
centrally – this is less common, although his assist for Spurs’ fourth goal against Southampton
showed that his own lateral movement can bring Kane into good positions
to find a runner from deep; he doesn’t just exist between the lines
Son’s development into one of the league’s outstanding attackers has been crucial to this,
as has Tottenham’s shift away from quick passing interchanges with three or four
players in and around the box to a more expansive, vertical game in transition.
In addition, this has been helped by this season’s trend towards higher defensive lines
and the overall movement of football towards increased levels of pressing.
As Spurs brutally exposed against Southampton, a high defensive line can offer huge opportunities
to runners like Son, and Kane can find space between the lines if the midfield is pushing up
to press. This then gives him time to pick a pass against a back line that Son can accelerate past.
It’s why teams playing this way need to have a goalkeeper who is able to commit to sweeping,
or extremely fast defenders capable of recovering runs.
Previously, as Spurs sought to dominate possession and squeeze the opposition back,
the quick interplay of Kane, Dele Alli, Eriksen and others allowed them to play through defences
that were more compact. Kane’s ability to hold up the ball against a centre back and
play clever through passes was still in evidence here, but often he would often then try to run
on to receive a through pass, or drop off and shoot from distance.
Now that he is being afforded more space, Kane is able to show the repertoire
of passing from distance – complete with perfect weight and bend - that
marks him out as a genuinely brilliant creative player and not just a finisher.
There are two additional factors which mean Kane may be doing more creating in the future.
Although Spurs have midfielders in Lo Celso and Ndombele who can break the press and pick a pass,
the genuine guile of Eriksen has not been replaced – this means that there is no passer in the 10 or
advanced 8 role who can make the kind of passes that Eriksen could and Kane can – so the burden
falls on Kane more than in previous seasons. Secondly, Kane’s injury issues mean that this
more withdrawn role may suit him. It’s not wildly speculative to suggest that Spurs could even line
up in a 4-2-3-1 with Kane as a 10 and Bale ahead of him as a central attacker – both players can
drop off or push up and create for others – although it’s still more likely that the 4-3-3
will persist with Bale on the right, his quick runs infield fed by Kane from the 10 position.
What’s interesting is how we judge players. Kane has always had this ability, but because of a
change in approach it’s more noticeable. Longer passes can require more technical ability and
vision, and we tend to notice them more because they happen in space rather than congested areas.
But Kane has always been a brilliant passer, long or short,
cross or through ball, and always tried to take up these sorts of positions.
His goal-scoring ability and Spurs’ tactics just haven’t allowed it to be so obvious until now.