Ange Postecoglou has rejected the suggestion that Harry Kane would not have been a particularly good fit for his system.
Over the last few matches, Spurs have struggled to put their chances away and have lacked conviction and quality in the final third.
They would have arguably beaten the likes of Aston Villa and West Ham United if Kane was still at the club, given the 30-year-old’s eye for a defence-spitting pass and his world-class finishing ability.
Some pundits have suggested over the last few months that the England captain’s move to Bayern Munich has been a blessing in disguise for Tottenham since the centre-forward is not a particularly great fit for Postecoglou’s preferred high-pressing, high-intensity approach (NBC Sports).
Postecoglou thinks Kane would have fit his system
When this claim was put to the Tottenham head coach, he told Football.London: “No I don’t think so because you were at the Shakhtar game, he did alright. I don’t think our style would have been hampered by having Harry there, and I think that’s selling him short a little bit.
“I don’t think it’s like the team has to play to him. I also think his game has evolved over time. He can play in lots of different ways and different systems, but his final third stuff, the quality has always been there. I don’t see it that way.
“I think if Harry stayed, I don’t think it would have changed my approach or how I set up the team.”
However, Postecoglou admitted that it was always made clear to him right from the moment he walked through the door in the summer that he would have to build a team without Tottenham’s record goalscorer.
The Australian added: “I think from my perspective it would have have been great if we kept him but I kind of knew from day one that he wasn’t going to be here.
“So then we started building other things into it but I think the way we play requires footballers who have a willingness to buy into the team ethos and the way we play our football and I think Harry has that.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Kane is a world-class striker and he is certainly good enough to adapt to any system, although one could argue that the striker would prefer to play in a system that is not reliant on a high press, which is one of his few weaknesses.
It is pointless to wonder ‘what if’ now that the 30-year-old has left. It is up to Postecoglou to build the right team to take us forward and it increasingly looks like we need to sign another number nine in January.
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