OptaJoe have revealed that Harry Kane is just one unsuccessful free-kick away from equalling the record of the most taken by a player without scoring.
Kane is undoubtedly on course to becoming a legend of the game and one of the greatest footballers England has ever produced.
Records continue to tumble for the striker, who overtook Frank Lampard’s and Thierry Henry’s goal tally recently to move up to the fifth place in the Premier League’s all-time goalscorers list (Premierleague.com).
The striker also overtook Wayne Rooney’s tally of 94 away goals this month, thus becoming the player to have found the back of the net most often away from home in the competition’s history (Goal.com).
However, as most Spurs fans are certainly aware, if there is one major weakness to the striker’s game, it is his inability to take free-kicks.
Opta have revealed that since scoring with his first ever free-kick attempt in the Premier League back in 2014 against Aston Villa, the striker has had 53 attempts without finding the back of the net.
If the Tottenham man does not score with his next free-kick, he will equal Jay-Jay Okocha’s record of 54 free-kicks without scoring.
53 – After scoring with his very first direct free-kick attempt in November 2014, @HKane has failed to score with any of his last 53 such shots in the top-flight. Since 2003-04, only Jay-Jay Okocha has taken as many without scoring more than once (54 each). Dreamers. #AskOptaJoe https://t.co/tf5rksaSPb
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 22, 2022
Spurs Web Opinion
Some people might be puzzled by why Kane is so poor at free-kicks, given how gifted a ball-striker he is. However, taking free-kicks is a unique skill as it requires one to get the ball over the wall and dip under the goal frame. That type of a side-foot technique is clearly not Kane’s forte and one hopes that he would be taken off free-kick duty by Conte.