Ange Postecoglou has admitted that losing Harry Kane just before the start of the season was quite disruptive to his plans but insisted that he is proud of the fact that his players have not used the England captain’s departure as an excuse.
Kane completed his switch to Bayern Munich just a day before Tottenham’s opening game of the season away at Brentford and many Spurs fans wondered at the time how the Lilywhites would replace the 30-year-old’s goals.
However, Postecoglou’s men have not had too many issues finding the back of the net for much of this season, with many of the attacking players stepping up after Kane’s absence.
The Australian revealed that there has not been much talk among the players about the club’s record goalscorer after his departure and he praised the way the squad dealt with such a significant loss.
When asked about Kane, the Tottenham head coach told Football.London: “I think that was sort of the starting point for us, because I was literally sitting in here [for my press conference] the day before the Brentford game and he’d just left. So you’re starting a season and the most significant person at this football club, maybe ever, has just left on the eve of the first game.
“I remember making a real conscious effort of… it’s the old duck just looking really graceful above the water and if there’s any panicking happening, make sure it’s under the water where nobody can see, particularly the players. And the players never batted an eyelid – which they could have. Especially when you look at what Harry has done this year. It has been unbelievable.
“You just go ‘gee, that’s a significant player that has left this football club and yet he hasn’t been mentioned as much as he would have been had we not been scoring goals’. His name would have come up a lot more. That’s credit to the group. The playing group, they have embraced that challenge.”
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Postecoglou insisted the adversities that Spurs have coped with over the course of his season will stand them in good stead over the next year or two.
He continued: “I think these things we have been through this year will help us in the medium or long term. Even the disrupted season, because it kind of removes any excuse we have for next year.
“We are not going to lose another Harry Kane next year. We are not going to have a disrupted season. We are going to have – with a bit of luck – fewer injuries – next year, so there’s nothing to clutch onto there.
“We’ve already done that. We’ve been through that. We’ve come out the other side. Not too badly. We are not where we want to be. So I still think that will help us, but it’s not nice when you go through it still.”
Reports over the last couple of months have indicated that Tottenham are expected to enter the market for a marquee number nine this summer to fill the void left by Kane (Football Insider).
However, Postecoglou insisted that replacing the England captain like-for-like is not possible as there are not any centre-forwards of his calibre around the world.
When asked about replacing Kane’s goals, the 58-year-old said: “That was going to be a big challenge for us because Harry is the best number nine in the world at the moment and he was a consistent goalscorer for this football club in the Premier League. Irrespective of the club’s fluctuations, he always scored goals.
“You take that out and you’ve got to fill that breach. We were never going to fill that breach with like for like, it was going to have to be a bit of a spread. I think the lads have done a decent job of covering that spread. We had to and have, but I still feel that is the area of the park where we need our biggest amount of improvement, in that front third.
“I think there’s a long way for us to go to bridge that gap with the top sides. It’s the area of the park where we need to have a lot of growth, but in the absence of such a key player as Harry for us, to still be in the position we are and to have scored the goals we have, I think is a credit to the group.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Our struggles in the final third over the last few weeks have perhaps shown that we could still do with one more world-class forward. However, Ricaharlison was in spectacular form until his injury and his return could help remedy some of our issues upfront.
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