Former Celtic forward Chris Sutton has lavished praise on Harry Kane for his displays for the Three Lions against Montenegro and Kosovo.
The Spurs striker netted a hat-trick in the first game and followed it up with a goal and an assist on Sunday. The four strikes in the two games bring his goal tally up to 32 goals, just 21 strikes behind Wayne Rooney’s record of 53.
Sutton asserted that the England captain was guaranteed to beat Rooney’s record, particularly because he relished scoring against weak opponents as evidenced in the current qualifying campaign.
Far from intending the comment as a criticism, the 46-year-old praised the Tottenham man’s hunger to get goals.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Sutton wrote, “Watch out Wayne Rooney, because Harry Kane is coming for your record. At 26 years old, it is hard to see the Tottenham Hotspur striker not writing his name in history as England’s greatest-ever goalscorer.
“With his ruthlessness and knack for making mincemeat of the minnows, he has to be a shoo-in to beat Rooney’s total of 53.
“It would be unfair to brand Kane a flat-track bully, and I wouldn’t call him that because he offers so much more, but he loves facing inferior opponents. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“I’m glad we can sit here and talk about how much he loves scoring against them than not scoring! Kane on Sunday equalled the record for most goals in a calendar year for England, joining George Hilsdon in 1908 and Dixie Dean in 1927 on 12.
“Look at who his goals in 2019 were against. Four against Bulgaria and four against Montenegro, two nations currently ranked joint-61st in the world. Two against Kosovo, ranked 114. Two against the Czech Republic, ranked 43.
“He has not been in the best form for his club but started this week on 28 goals for his country and finished it on 32 – just 21 shy of Rooney. Given the volume of games and the opponents he will face in the years that follow, I cannot see Kane passing up the opportunity to make that record his own.”
The pundit also opined that it was clear that Southgate trusted Kane, based on the fact that the England manager barely seemed to rest his centre forward.
Sutton added, “The only thing that might stop the Spurs striker is himself, if he gets injured. Or possibly if someone like Tammy Abraham can somehow succeed in forcing him out of the starting line-up.
“Yet Southgate clearly trusts Kane. It was interesting on Sunday how, given the changes made by the England boss, he kept him in there. Maybe Kane is asking his manager to play him.
“Maybe he is already eyeing up that record himself. I like that ambition if so. As a striker, Kane wants to score, score then score some more, and it’s difficult to see him stopping any time soon as long as the supply line is there.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Barring any serious injury issues, Kane will likely end his England career with close to 70 goals as his strike rate only seems to be going up year on year. His hunger to get on the scoresheet is clear for all to see and it is this hunger that will drive him on to break records both for Spurs as well as England.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
