And the fact that his partner in crime, Son, outperformed his npxG by 72% inflating Harry's assist numbers.
Harry Kane | "I will be staying at Tottenham this summer and will be 100% focused on helping the team achieve success."
- Thread starter Samid
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His expected assists were still in the top 7% of Europe's top 5 leagues for players in his position.
Yes, he did have a great season last last year. xA=0,23 is very good for a striker. Very antitypical for him though regarding his sudden assist contribution: 2019/20 season xA=0,08 (29 percentile), 18/19 xA=0,15 (71 percentile), 17/18 xA=0,08 (42 percentile) etc.
Haaland this season: xA=0,21 (87 percentile). Not too shabby for a guy who doesn't fall deep much and likes to be in the box or at the shoulder of the last defender best.
Mbappe did play 6 games in the CL as a center forward last season and scored 4 and assisted 3 in those matches, so he does his business well in that department as well.
Kane is a great player, but he is older, slower, less clinical and in general not at the same tier as the 2 youngsters. He is English though....
He also plays in a harder league for a team that isn't in the top 4, something stats often fail to encapsulate.
You're talking about players in different leagues though. The French league is a million miles off the English league in the UEFA coefficients, it was actually ranked the 8th best league last season even below Scotland! The German league is a good step up from that but have you ever watched it? Many of the teams play with high lines and it's very kind to attacking players.
Kane's role has gradually been changing over the years and last season he was very much a hybrid 9/10. I think at City you'll see an improvment in his games in creating and assisting (maybe not as many assists). Of course this is an opinion but perhaps we'll get a chance to find out if it's accurate.
Mbappe and Haaland may well prove to have been better players when all is said and done but in this case it's easy to see why City want Kane for their 9 position over the other two.
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He's staying this summer. City would have to cough up an astronomical fee for Levy to sell, and it doesn't seem like they're prepared to do that. I think Levy is quite content to wait this out as he holds all the cards. Can't wait to watch Kane take a massive slice of humble pie stepping out for Spurs the day after the transfer window slams shut 
Other than against us, City, Liverpool and Chelsea, Spurs should be in the driverseat and be the better team/squad against all the other teams in the league. Thats 30 matches a season where they have the better squad. No need to downplay that. I guess you even thought you had a shot at the title in November/December last year. Spurs has just not played their cards very well the last couple of seasons.
Except the 2 goals and 1 assist against us in the infamous 6-1 match, Harry scored 0 goal and assisted 1 against the top 4 last season, including the cup matches he played against Chelsea and City. He's never won a trophy and has failed to deliver when it really matters. What makes everyone think that suddenly changes if he signs for us or City?
What has that got to do with anything? And no I have never went into a season thinking we will win a league. You then pick last season, our worst some time to pick out Harry's goals.
Because he is playing under Pep, in one of the best teams in Europe where he wont be the focus for all goals.
Kane played against Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Shkendija, Maccabi Haifa, Royal Antwerp, Ludogorets and failed to get Spurs past Zagreb (with a squadvalue of 115M total) in Europa, while the other 2 were 1. and 2. on the topscorer-list in the Champions League. Spurs played 30 matches in the PL last season against teams where they on paper have the better squad.
I've watched 80% of the matches Haaland has played for Dortmund. He scored 8 and assisted 1 in 5 games against the 2 best teams in Germany, Bayern and RB Leipzig, in League and cup last season and was topscorer in champions league (10 goals in 8 matches) for a team that exited in the quarters. Should be no need to down play this.
Can't argue against the quality of the bottom 10-14 teams in France though. Mbappe still delivered against the top teams and in CL (8 goals, 3 assists in 10 matches)
Hasn't Spurs record against the top 4 been an achilles heal for as long as Kane has played 1st team football? No trophies and a bad record against good opposition?
Harry has in 57 matches against us, City, Liverpool and Chelsea scored 18 and assisted 9 goals. Thats not even a little impressive if you want to be compared with the best strikers out there.
The best strikers out there play for the better teams, you put Kane in Cities team you will see that number increase, again my argument from tat start of this.
Tad better than Lukaku and he is rated very highly. What was his record against the top 5/6 PL teams? 6 or something. If Kane has scored 3 times that amount then it’s impressive for a team that flatters so often
Glad we haven't moved for him. Skipping training is pretty embarrassing for him considering he isn't going to get his move and will be back there by the weekend - what was the point?
At city Kane would play as a traditional striker. There's no way pep would have him dropping deep, crowding the area outside the box. They have enough players to create.
Kane would offer city a focal point that they haven't had since Aguero maybe 4 years ago.
Kane and his dropping deep is a Southgate and Jose thing. 2 managers that only attack with transitions amd lots of space to run into.
Pep and city usually have busses parked and use intricate passes and clever movement to score. Pep knows that an organized team can shut this out so he wants a big strong striker's presence to finish off a cross or bundle in a loose ball.
Kane would offer city a focal point that they haven't had since Aguero maybe 4 years ago.
Kane and his dropping deep is a Southgate and Jose thing. 2 managers that only attack with transitions amd lots of space to run into.
Pep and city usually have busses parked and use intricate passes and clever movement to score. Pep knows that an organized team can shut this out so he wants a big strong striker's presence to finish off a cross or bundle in a loose ball.
I'd love Kane to stay in Spurs or move to City (That would block a Haaland move there next year). He is a very good striker, but he is slow and still has a lot to prove against the best teams. To be honest I don't think he will be a noticable upgrade from Jesus/old Aguero. Haaland has proven he can do it against the best (Leipzig, Bayern, CL-performances for both RBS and Dortmund 30 goals and 4 assists in 23 matches). For 100+M you should expect a massive upgrade.
Are you really saying Haaland has proven more than Kane?
Not really. His passing can be pretty good but generally he's fairly standard technically.
You think Haaland would be a 'massive upgrade' on Kane? Are you sure?
If you think Kane is 'fairly standard technically' then clearly you have much higher standards than I have.
Maybe I do, his close control and ability on the ball isn't stand out, this is why he struggles so much under pressure and in tight situations.
Nice try! Lukaku has scored 16 and assisted 4 in 58 matches against the same top 4 teams, 15 goals and 1 assist while playing for West Brom and Everton. Pretty similar stats I would say, and just as underwhelming. Good striker too, but suffers from the same syndrome. Has some trophies in his closet though.....
Eh? Are we talking about the same player here?
No. I'm saying Haaland is the better striker and has shown a tendancy to show up in big games, and that Kane still has a lot to prove against the best teams. I can't think of a single 21 year old that doesn't have a lot to prove...
More stylistically, but also long term for sure (given their ages and fitness levels). City with Grealish on the left don't have enough runners in behind if they also get Kane. They'd lack pace and everyone would love coming short to get the ball unless they put Sterling on the right, but then he's the only guy with pace and only threat off the ball in behind the defence. Haaland is a monster with that, and he'd score at will for City more than Kane due to his style and the others all loving to play in the pockets and create. IMO a front 3 of Kane, Grealish and someone like Foden with De Bruyne behind, while all brilliant players, just wouldn't work that well. You need a Sterling, a Rashford, maybe even 2 players like that in the attack who will be more direct with their movement.
Pretty much most of the Euro, Kane gets the ball, opponents gets close to him, he runs away or loses the ball. He starts dropping deep to find space because he was doing nothing.
You could be correct or it could just be how Kane has chosen to evolve himself. Not all players are content with only having a dozen touches per game, some want to be involved all of the time
I agree about needing someone to run behind the defense. But that problem is helped by deploying Grealish as the left 8 instead of on the wing.
Foden--Kane--Sterling
---Grealish--KDB---------
-----------Rodri---------------
That's what I expect to see most often if they buy both. Or they may flip Foden and Sterling and play inverted wingers.
Haaland is still by far the better buy long term though.
Woah now.... Where is all this coming from? Haaland still has a ton to prove before anybody could claim he is on the same level as Kane or Lewandowski never mind better. Kane has consistently been one of the top 3 strikers in world football for years now.
For a team that has creators like City, definitely. I think Haaland will smash Kane's goalscoring records.
You what mate
Man you guys really love Haaland don't you.
Despite them both being CF's I don't think you can compare them, ones starting out the other is in what should be his peak, one at the moment is a pure goal scoring freak of nature the other is more of a complete all round player likely to have a bigger overall influence on a game
If we were to get either I'd make us strong favourites for the league, ah well not happening this year at least
Yeah that'll probably work in some games but it'd be so horrendously unbalanced in big games (of which there are a lot of these days) IMO. Rodri is a huge drop from Fernandinho at his peak both with the ground he can cover and ability, and Grealish isn't quite like Silva and not the same level of course so I wouldn't say that can work out the same way as it did in 2017/18. Plus you're now dropping Gundogan who was one of their players of the season and provides a very good balance next to KDB while pushing KDB deeper.
Is a Gundogan-KDB pairing as the 8 and 10 any worse overall than KDB now being an 8 and Grealish the 10? Not for me. Far worse defensively and with how much ground they can cover, and now moving De Bruyne out of where he operates best for a class but still inferior player.
For team balance against any tough team that doesn't just park the bus deep and not really try anything, I'd say this is the best balance:
Grealish Kane Sterling
Gundogan KDB
Rodri
Zinchenko Dias Stones Cancelo
Ederson
But its still too reliant on Sterling to get in behind imo.Gundogan KDB
Rodri
Zinchenko Dias Stones Cancelo
Ederson
He fits their needs more with his pace and directness. Plus far younger. Plus has 57 goals in 59 games since joining Dortmund. City need a poacher up top more than anything to just get the goals since they aren't going to be using wide forwards with pace.
I agree with nearly everything you say here. But I'm not so sure its such a problem relying only on Sterling to get in behind simply because nobody plays an aggressive high line against them, even their biggest opponents. United don't, Chelsea didn't in any of their victories, PSG didn't really either. Even Liverpool have tended to play very cagey matches against them. City's biggest problem even against strong opponents has been that they struggle to break down low blocks, especially with five-man defensive lines, largely because they didn't have a striker in the box who could get on the end of crosses or just be a killer with half chances that fell to him. I think Kane is a more proven solution to that problem than Haaland, although I still would easily take Haaland's next 4-5 years over Kane's due to their ages.
As much as I want it to be a disaster I can't see anything but being a ridiculous success if Kane goes to City. His movement in the box is really intelligent and say what you want about him, he's an insane finisher. With KDB, Grealish and improving Foden he will have chances galore. Especially from KDB who can deliver the ball from anywhere in a Beckhamesque way. The thought that he only has a few years left I think is way off the mark. Pace has never been a part of his game which is the biggest thing which is lost when ageing, instead I can see Kane's game not detoriating with age similar to Zlatan. He may even improve as he goes into his 30's in terms of goal scoring as he'll likely get better at concentrating on his movement and knowing his strengths. Again in a similar way to Zlatan.
He was terrible at the Euros.
You must be British or a Spurs fan, right?
Remember that season when Harry finally came through on the first team, when he was turning 21 just like Haaland did last season?
7 EL games - 0
10 PL games - 3 goals / 2 assists
2 league cup games - 1 goal
Total: 19 games - 4 goals /2 assists
Haaland last season (total 3540 minutes) same age:
8 CL games - 10 goals/2 assists (top scorer of the tournament)
28 BL games - 27 goals/8 assists
5 cup games - 4 goals / 2 assists (winner of the cup)
Total: 41 games - 41 goals/12 assists (53 goal contributions)
Harrys 2 best seasons of his career:
17/18 season - total 3953 minutes:
7 CL games - 7 goals/2 assists
37 PL games - 30 goals/3 assists
4 league cup games - 4 goals
Total: 48 games - 41 goals/5 assists (46 goal contributions)
20/21 season - total 3982 minutes:
5 EL games - 3 goals/2 assists
35 PL games - 23 goals/14 assists
6 cup games - 2 goals
3 EL qualification games against rubbish teams - 5 goals /1 assist
Total: 49 games - 33 goals/17 assists (50 goal contributions)
I guess Haaland can just dream of reaching Kanes level one day......
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Everybody and their dog knows Kane only broke into Spurs first team at age 21/22 - this is your argument?
Did you see the stats for Kanes 2 best season of his career underneath as well? The guy was a better goalscorer than Kane will ever be at 19/20 years old. The season he just had topped Kanes career best season for Spurs, becoming topscorer in CL, winning the DFB-cup and getting the PoY award in BL, despite Lewandowski breaking a 50 year old goalscoringrecord. Kane is better at some aspects of the game for sure and is a very good player, but if you're not British or a Spursfan you can't really place him up there with the best. His record against the best is average and he still hasn't won a single trophy. Some on here thinks he finally showed what a great creator and passer of the ball he really is last season, when he clicked with an overperforming Son for some matches early last season - He got 4 assists in the last 29 games he played last season, and that is just on par with the output he's delivered the 7 seasons before that. His completed passes % was below 70, which is lower than for instance Haaland (74%).
He has been Spurs best player for a while and I understand your love for him, but I would love if City blew 120M-150M, because that would block their chances on Haaland.