mikesiva wrote:Modern football requires strikers to play the forward press all together. When Kane was at Tottenham, he didn't play the forward press, which allowed teams to build up a lot of attacks on the Tottenham goal. Hence, Tottenham finishing so low down the table last season
It seems like you are taking one variable in a huge number of differences, and trying to superimpose a narrative over it. Spurs are starting about 5-6-7 different players to last year in recent matches, have a different manager in place, and a totally different tactical style - so just saying Kane is the difference is untrue.
Take for instance the goal keeper. Last year Liverpool and Spurs post shot on target expected goals was almost identical, but Spurs conceded 16 more goals in the season - so just one variable, in this instance a keeper saving a lot more than they should v one that is letting in more than they should - is on its own worth 16 goals in a season. As a comparison, Vicario this year has the highest saves above expectation, and the best ratio of expectation ..... If Lloris and Forster were still performing like last year, you can add a goal every 2.3 matches, so they would have conceded 3 goals. 4 of their results could have changed with 1 goal.... so this one variable, had it not changed, could have alone lost 7 points for Spurs already this season.
As for the forward press - Kane had more defensive interventions than Haaland, but having a striker at 9 who was almost non-existent in defence didn't stop Man City smashing 95 goals in. Nor did it help Leeds, who had the most tackles in the opponents final third, from getting relegated. So its dubious how much of a difference this makes - in fact, Kane had more tackles than the vast majority of those ending up on the top scorers list... showing that, while he might not press like a rocket, neither really does any number 9 central striker... only Toney was above him (by 1 tackle) out of true centre forwards, wide forwards of course need to press more because they play slightly behind.... plus neither Son, Kulusevski or Richarlison had defensive stats last year that suggest they were any better, and especially significantly enough to jettison 30 goals for.
The most interesting thing about Spurs? Sarr and Bissouma's stats in winning the ball are astronomical this year. Id suggest removing the useless Hojberg and Bentancur getting injured and replaced might have more to do with Spurs suddenly finding form.... they were crap last year in the Midfield