Alan Hutton told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport that with his defender’s hat on, he would want Tottenham striker, Harry Kane, ‘far away from goal as possible’.
Even though the Tottenham hitman bagged four goals at Euro 2020, and was top-scorer and assist-maker last season in the Premier League, there is still talk about him dropping short.
Whilst Kane has always dropped short in his career, he did take it to another level under Jose Mourinho, which brought out the best season of his professional career.
Hutton shared his thoughts on Kane doing just that and the ‘contradicting’ viewpoints that he has.
“I think he’s brilliant at what he does,” said Hutton. “We have seen it a lot at Tottenham where he is coming short.
“But, for me personally, I want to see him in the box scoring goals. Yes, he has got other attributes that are obviously very good. The one for me is scoring and I would like to see him doing the business in there.
“As a defender, I would like to see him going short because you know how dangerous he can be. But I would want him as far away from goal as possible, even though I am contradicting myself because he is good at playing passes and the ball in behind.
“But I would rather him away from goal, so for them moving forward, yes he needs to be in the box a lot more.”
From Tottenham’s perspective, it’s a case of more of the same from Kane, who still managed to dominate both as a goalscorer and creator last season despite dropping short.
It will be interesting to see how he fares under the tactics of Nuno Espirito Santo and whether the former Wolves boss plays two strikers up top.
There are rumours circulating that Tottenham want to sign Danny Ings this summer to play alongside Kane rather than as his replacement.
Given that Nuno has previously played a back three, with two up top, that is more than possible for the North London club and would no doubt please their supporters because it means Kane will be staying put.
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