Harry Kane is one of the greatest English strikers to ever play the game. He has made 75 international appearances and scored 51 goals. He has refined his craft extensively and excelled in every aspect of the game, except one.
What Exactly Is Success in Football?
For global superstars, this is a Balancing act.
The job of being a footballer comes with guaranteed scrutiny. It is an industry where many are judged by the exploits of a few.
A constant theme in football is how replaceable footballers seem to be. Every year massive numbers of athletes are replaced and bought, that’s just the nature of the football business.
You have to be exceptional in order to not be replaced. This becomes exceedingly more difficult in bigger clubs.
Harry Kane was never the wonderkid or the next big thing, he always flew under the radar. it’s not necessarily a bad thing to not stand out, but it is in football.
You have to stand out, you have to be special, talented, a hard worker, and also a mentally tough individual because if you aren’t at a top-four club then football has a lot of downs.
Kane had a lot of downs right from an early age
Kane had been second fiddle for a long time.
He has told the story of how he just wanted to play football as a kid and moved to Arsenal in hopes of playing, he was released from Arsenal FC at 8 years old.
Kane’s coach at the time, Roy Massey, opened up last year on exactly why he was released.
“He played up front with Benik Afobe and you think today, Benik was outstandingly quick and scored a lot of goals,” he said.
“Harry was a technician, a very talented player but did lack some mobility and pace.
We did think, perhaps he wouldn’t be quite up to playing at Arsenal Football Club.
Football is a dog-eat-dog world. At first glance, your opponent is the opposition, but in most cases it’s your own teammate that’s the obstacle you need to overcome.
He later joined spurs and waited for his opportunity to stand out too.
For some people the glamour of life doesn’t come easy. He went on loan to Millwall and Norwich before his breakout season for the Tottenham senior team.
In the next four seasons he’d go on to score 21 goals, 25 goals, 29 goals, and 30 goals respectively, solidifying himself as England’s premier marksman and the face of a new generation of English talents.
He has spent his entire senior career playing for Tottenham Hotspur and has racked up impressive accolades.
Kane has won the golden boot which is awarded to the division’s highest goalscorer thrice.
The Englishman was part of the PFA team of the year for 4 consecutive years between 2014 to 2018.
The man has won a world cup golden boot. As of now, is currently the third-highest premier league goal scorer of all time with 192 goals and 44 assists in 293 matches.
He has truly surpassed all expectations and boxes he was placed in. Kane most likely is now one of the most valuable assets in the world of football, the irreplaceable ones.
Harry Kane is now one of the top 10 premier strikers in the world and unfortunately, his peers have shelves filled with trophies, he doesn’t even have a single one.
It’s such a simulation that one of the greatest strikers ever will score over 200 goals and not win a single trophy.
On the larger scale of it, he’s a man at the top of his profession, at the peak of his prowess, and earning a boatload of money with a starting spot that is guaranteed.
But at the end of the day, this all started with a dream. What bigger dream can a footballer have bigger than glory?
To be fair to Tottenham, they’ve done everything humanly possible to ensure success.
They have equipped Kane with world-class managers the likes of Antonio Conte, Jose Mourinho, and Mauricio Pochetinno.
World-class teammates like Son Heung min and Hugo Lloris. regular champions league finishes.
A state-of-the-art stadium and training facility. They recently signed him to a 200 thousand pound-a-week deal.
But they couldn’t provide him with the most important thing he needed, a trophy.
They came extremely close a couple of times. Losing the finals of the Champions League to Liverpool in a tense affair. They also lost the 2020-2021 Efl cup final to Manchester City.
I wonder if those near misses made him lose hope in winning a trophy with Tottenham or if it assured him this team was special.
His resolve was tested when manchester city came for his signature. Pep Guardiola’s team was going through a temporary sticky patch and was looking for someone to lead their team.
Harry Kane wanted to leave. Playing in a dominant side like City would surely bring him the titles he deserved so much, but Tottenham wasn’t willing to let go.
That’s now the problem, Tottenham can’t let go. I don’t blame them, I would do the same thing.
“We tried but it was far away to be done because Tottenham was clear this is not going to happen,” he said. “And when it happens two, three, four times, it’s over. Pep Guardiola explained after multiple rejected bids for the English marksman.
Kane started dealing with public hate as the fanbase saw it as a betrayal. The same fanbase that grumbled when he was without a name and starting over Roberto Soldado. Were now the same ones complaining he wanted to achieve something.
But time heals all wounds. He is now 29 years old and has won the Tottenham fans back with his consistency and hard work.
He has started this season like he always does with 9 goals and an assist in the premier league so far, the only man who has scored more goals this season is Erling Haaland.
As Kane enters the twilight of his career. I know regardless of a trophy the world knows Harry Kane is one of the best ever to do it.
But still, it’s weird that one of England’s best players ever never held a single trophy.
