Kevin Phillips makes encouraging Harry Kane prediction

Former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips believes that fans will now see the best of Harry Kane after the striker got the monkey off his back by scoring his first goal since the restart of the season.

There was a lot said and written about Kane’s performance in Spurs’ first game back against Manchester United but Jose Mourinho defended his striker, reasoning that it was his first competitive match in six months (Football.London).

Ahead of the match against West Ham, the Spurs boss insisted that he would not be surprised to see the 26-year-old find the back of the net against the Hammers.

For the majority of the London derby on Tuesday, it did not seem like that goal was going to come for Kane, with the striker looking a little rusty and also missing a chance that he would have typically buried.

However, with less than ten minutes to play, the 26-year-old turned on the afterburners as Spurs countered the away side, who threw men high up the pitch looking for an equaliser.

The striker raced away from the Hammers defence before finishing cooly past Lukasz Fabianski.

Phillips believes that striker will now get back to his best and play in a more attacking role.

The former Premier League golden boot winner told Football Insider: “It is massive (Kane’s goal). Take it from a striker.

“If you are Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, whoever you are, to get that first goal after being out for so long is huge.

“You could see in the way he celebrated. The monkey is off his back and he can now get on and do what he does best in the Premier League.

“Harry has not helped himself because he is so eager to get involved all over the pitch and at times he is well out of position.

“Now that he has scored I think you will see him doing what he does best. That is getting on the end of through balls, playing on the last man and getting in behind. Massive relief for him and the club.

“Everyone knew that when he went through one-on-one there was only one outcome.

“The hardest goals to score are when you are bearing down on the goalkeeper and you have time to think about it.

“He did it with ease and that is the sign of a top-class striker and someone who has not lost his confidence in front of goal.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I thought a lot of the criticism that came Kane’s way following his display against Manchester United was extremely unfair on the striker. We know from his history that he takes a few games to get into his grove and he was always going to be rusty after not playing a competitive match for six months.

I still do not think he looked at his sharpest during the game against the Hammers. However, he should get back to his best with a couple of more 90 minutes under his belt. That goal will certainly do wonders for the striker’s confidence going into the final seven games of the season.

Related Topics