Will Harry Kane try for Antonio Conte?
Paul Macdonald
- 1 Nov 2021 06:43 CDT
- 3 min read
Harry Kane's performances in the Premier League have unquestionably contributed to the demise of his manager, Nuno Espirito Santo.
There's a number of different elements at play; Kane, of course, pushed for a move to Manchester City the entire summer before admitting defeat as chairman Daniel Levy refused to play ball.
There's also the physical and psychological strain of England's journey to the Euro 2020 final which played its part and meant Kane had a stunted pre-season; he's not the only international who had a long summer who is struggling to find form (see Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw at Manchester United).
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But Kane couldn't look less interested in giving Nuno his full effort if he tried. He racked up just 0.1 xG in a dismal 90 minutes against United on Saturday, to the point where Spurs fans finally found their voices and booed the captain.
And it's been consistent with Kane across the entire season. Leaving the Europa Conference League to one side, where he is playing relative minnows, his underlying Premier League data doesn't provide much of anything.
His 0.23 xG against one goal which came in the victory against Newcastle, is his lowest total in recent seasons. Indeed it's half of his 0.55 xG recorded in the league last season. And, really, the idea of Kane as a #10 was always a nonsense.
He overperformed his expected assists last season thanks mainly to the brilliance of Heung-Min Son, he got 13 assists against an expected total of just over eight. The season before his number was just over three, while this season it's 1.49 across nine appearances.
And in his last two outings, against United and West Ham, he recorded 0.18 xG and zero - zero - xA. He didn't make anything whatsoever for his team-mates and was a million miles away from scoring himself.
Harry Kane on a downward curve?
So the question for Antonio Conte, should he take over, is does he have a club captain who is on a downward spiral, or was he simply not at all interested in extending the reign of Nuno, who was publicly sixth or seventh choice to take over?
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It will be the first thing Conte will need to tackle should he take over. He's contracted until 2024 so unless City come back with a bid near to the £150 million they were quoted in the summer - which is maybe less likely than ever given the current output - he's not going anywhere.
So Conte will need to try and reinvigorate the interest of Spurs' most valuable asset. But the question will be - can Kane turn these numbers around and get back to the world class player has he has been in recent years?
