Former Chelsea and Leicester defender Robert Huth has been talking to The Athletic about the dark arts of football and, in particular, how he felt about facing Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane.
Huth enjoyed a successful career in the top flight of English football for many years, turning out for the likes of Chelsea, Middlesborough, Stoke City, and Leicester City.
He won two Premier League titles with Chelsea, and was also part of the Leicester squad that won the league in stunning fashion in 2016 (Transfermarkt).
As a towering and powerful centre-half, Huth faced his fair share of tricky opponents through the years.
One such opponent was Kane, Tottenham’s talismanic striker who has terrorised Premier League defences for years.
Kane is renowned for his high footballing intelligence and awareness and can often be seen winning crucial free kicks for his team.
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Whether it be in dangerous areas to set up a goal threat, or merely during the dying embers of a tight game, Kane certainly knows how to draw a foul.
Huth has been discussing the dark arts, as they are called, and highlighted Kane as an especially frustrating player to come up against.
He said: “I got sucked into giving a stupid free kick away, like the one where Harry falls onto the ball.
“You know it’s coming and it’s so frustrating because you study players before. But in the heat of the moment, you make the wrong decision.
“If Harry’s in your team, you would be absolutely buzzing because you know he’s going to get you free kicks if you’re under pressure.
“But if he’s playing for the opposition, you’re losing 1-0 and he’s lying on the ball, you just want to rip his head off.”
Huth is the first to admit that he wasn’t totally innocent, though, adding: “If someone goes down pretending to be hurt, I hate it.
“But on the other side, if the ref didn’t look my way, I would pull the striker’s shirt and gain a yard.”
Spurs Web Opinion
We see it time and time again just how effective Kane is at winning these kinds of free kicks, and it’s such a valuable skill he has.
I truly believe Kane is one of the most intelligent footballers around right now, not just in his vision and awareness, but in terms of game management, too.
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