Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood has praised Harry Kane’s attitude and insisted that the striker’s desire to work hard to improve that has made him into the player he is today.
Sherwood handed Kane his Premier League debut after he took over the managerial reins from Andre Villas-Boas during the second half of the 2013-14 season and the striker made an immediate impression.
It was not until the next season that Kane became a regular in the Spurs side when a brilliant run of form in the Europa League forced new boss Mauricio Pochettino’s hand into giving the striker a chance in the Premier League.
The 26-year-old has not looked back since having won two Premier League golden boots and a World Cup golden boot and is currently rated among the best strikers in world football.
In an interview with Chris Sutton for The Daily Mail, Sherwood was asked about whether young players these days are unwilling to undergo what Kane did by going out on loan to lower league clubs and honing his craft.
The Spurs boss insisted that it was the Tottenham striker’s attitude that set him apart from the rest.
He said: They (Young players these days) get their a***s wiped for them. The opposite of this for me is Harry Kane.
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“He would play the same way for £1 a week. He would never waste one day on the training field.
“I would take attitude over ability all day. If you can marry the two up, then you’ve got a serious footballer.
“I hate it when I hear pundits talking about ‘natural talent’. There’s no such thing.”
Sherwood was also asked if the England captain should leave the North Londoners in order to win trophies.
He compared the Spurs star’s situation to Alan Shearer’s at Blackburn and insisted that it depends on the ambition the Lilywhites show in the transfer market.
The 51-year-old added: “It’s like Alan Shearer. He finishes fourth with Blackburn (in 1992-93), then second (in 1993-94).
“Manchester United are all over him. But he decides to stay, because he believes we have the quality to win it, and we did the next season.
“Harry needs to assess this himself. I would wait to see what they do in the summer.
“They’ve got a manager who has not gone there to only finish inside the top four.
“Harry will know very soon if the club are willing to spend that money to give themselves that opportunity of winning the league.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Harry Kane’s rise is certainly evidence that attitude and mentality trumps talent for young players. Time and again we see youngsters who have all the talent in the world disappear into obscurity in their early twenties.
Kane was never the most highly-rated talent in the academy set up while coming through. The likes of Tom Carroll and Alex Pritchard who were in Kane’s age group, were thought off as much better prospects. However, Kane continued to work hard on his weaknesses, which made him the top player he is today.
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