‘Outstanding’ – Glenn Hoddle claims Spurs star was almost operating as two different players

Glenn Hoddle has described Harry Kane’s performance against Manchester City as ‘outstanding’.

Kane was in remarkable form from the start to the final whistle at the Etihad Stadium having come up against a City side who had not lost in the Premier League since October.

The Spurs legend reserved praise for the way Antonio Conte set up his side from a tactical perspective, with Harry Kane dropping deep and utilising Heung-min Son and Dejan Kulusevski as runners to break beyond the home defence on the counter attack.

Kane played a role in Dejan Kulusevski’s early opener and after the break he put his side ahead after a lung-busting run to latch onto Heung-min Son’s cross.

The striker thought he had bagged his second of the match to make it 3-1, only to be ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside against Kulusevski in the build-up.

When City levelled from the penalty spot through substitute Riyad Mahrez after it was adjudged that Cristian Romero had intentionally handled an effort from Bernardo Silva inside the area it looked as if Conte’s men would have to settle for a point.

Tottenham launched one final attack when Rodrigo Bentancur’s ball down the flank found Kulusevski, who cut back in on his stronger left foot and Kane was there again to beat former team-mate Kyle Walker in the air to power a header into the bottom corner of Ederson’s net.

Hoddle told Premier League Productions (19/02/22 at 7:30 pm): “It was unbelievable, I got to say,”

“To come into this game in such poor form and to play to that level.

“Tactically, Conte has it right and they went out and implemented it. They knew how to defend and they always looked dangerous on the break.

“That man Harry Kane was outstanding. His passing, movement and he was unfortunate he didn’t score a hat-trick with VAR chalking one off.

“He’s almost playing as a number nine and number ten. That’s how good he is.”

SpursWeb Opinion

It was a joy to watch Harry Kane in action last night, in arguably his greatest individual performance for the club. The display just goes to show how important he is to the club’s ambitions of breaking back into the top four and securing Champions League football.

Failure to win the FA Cup or secure a top four finish would have worrying consequences over the future of Kane and Conte, it is pivotal that we’re able to secure qualification not only to satisfy the appetite of the pair, but also to be able to attract top quality players during the summer window.

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