Glenn Hoddle has stated that Harry Kane is ‘just not at it’ after Tottenham suffered a 3-1 defeat in the North London derby on Sunday, as he told Premier League Productions (26/09/21 at 4 pm start).
Six games into the new Premier League season, Kane is yet to get off the mark in the league and his Spurs side have just lost three London derbies on the bounce.
What will be worrying for the Spurs supporters is that the Kane of old has not looked himself this term.
The England captain is notorious for being a slow starter, but given what happened over the summer, all of that drama will be thrown at him and the possible suggestion that it’s a distraction.
Hoddle thinks Kane, and the player only, can turn around his current form, and not his manager Nuno Espirito Santo or his coaching staff.
“Harry Kane is just not at it,” said Hoddle. “There’s no hiding behind Harry’s a fantastic player and he’s got to get himself back.
“If Spurs are to get into some good form, then he has to get his energy back. He has got to get his enthusiasm back. He is staying. The move didn’t happen, so you have to get on with it.
“It still looks, to me, that he is smouldering a little bit. There is no zip to his game. You don’t manage it. It has to come from him. No-one, Nuno or the staff are going to bring that out of him.
“They might sit him down and have a one-on-one chat with him. But he has to look at himself in the mirror – he has to hurt himself physically a lot more in pushing himself.”
Kane looked like a fish out of water at the Emirates, even though he is the highest goalscorer in North London derbies.
This would have been a great time for the striker to turn his fortune around and get up and running for the season.
And whilst a lot of flak will come his way, in the aftermath of this defeat, his manager will also be under severe pressure.
The problem facing Nuno is that he wasn’t even first, second or even third choice to replace the now-sacked and current Roma boss, Jose Mourinho.
Not only that, Daniel Levy sacked a so-called defensive-minded coach in Mourinho, in order to bring in Nuno, yet his fellow countryman is more defensive in his style.
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