William Gallas has revealed that he once criticised Harry Kane when was a teenager for being too eager to shoot but admitted that the hunger for goals has served the striker well over the course of his career.
While coming through the youth ranks at Spurs, Kane was never really seen as a prodigy or even as a guaranteed first-team prospect, with the striker struggling to make an impact in his loan spells at various EFL clubs.
However, he never looked back once he was handed first-team opportunities and has continued to improve every single season.
The 29-year-old is now widely recognised as one of the best players in the world and has written his name into the history books by becoming Tottenham and England’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Gallas revealed that Kane had the same appetite for goals even he was 17 years old and narrated a funny story about playing a five-a-side game with him at Hotspur Way.
The Frenchman told Genting Casino (as relayed by Football.London): “The first thing he would think about was shooting, even if he wasn’t in the best position, he wanted to score.
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“I said to him, ‘Pass the ball, Harry! You don’t have to shoot all the time!’ He was obsessed (laughing). Score goals, score goals, score goals, that was what was going through his mind.”
When asked if he expected Kane to become as good as he has, the former Tottenham defender responded: “No, I didn’t think he would be the player we all know.
“I remember the first time I trained with him, we were doing a five-a-side tournament and he was in my team. Harry’s focus was just on scoring goals – he had an obsession to score goals.
“He was 17 years old, but that shows you how obsessed he was to score goals.
“Now when you look at him, the way he plays, over the last few years he has changed his game, but he still scores goals because he has that quality.
“To become the record scorer for the England national team, we have to give him a lot of credit.”
Spurs Web Opinion
In football, young prodigies who are tipped for big things from 15 or 16 years of age, often fail to live up to their potential while those who are committed to getting better tend to have decent careers.
Kane was never really gifted athletically nor did he have the natural ability to lift people off their seats but the striker kept working on his game and it is his mentality that has helped him reach the heights that he has.
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