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Why Tottenham's over-reliance on Harry Kane and Son Heung-min could become an obstacle in title bid
Outside Kane and Son, only Tanguy Ndombele has scored more than one league goal this term, and only Sergio Reguilon has more than one assist
By Sam Dean 6 January 2021 • 9:35am
So much has been made this season of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son's understanding Credit: EPA
Harry Kane and Son Heung-min do plenty of defensive work for their Tottenham Hotspur team-mates, so it is surely about time those team-mates started doing some offensive work for them. The great two-man attack of the Premier League shows no signs of slowing down, with Son contributing another goal in Tuesday’s win over Brentford, but the most encouraging aspect of the night might just be a rare goal from a Tottenham midfielder.
Moussa Sissoko had not taken a single shot this season before this League Cup semi-final. You would not have known it from the quality of his finish against Brentford, a superb header into the top corner, but that lack of goal threat from midfield will one day become a problem if the Kane-Son connection is ever broken.
So much has been made this season of Kane and Son’s understanding, and rightly so. In the Premier League, they have scored 22 of Tottenham’s 29 goals. Son has 12 goals and five assists in the league, while Kane has 10 goals and 11 assists.
As for the rest of Jose Mourinho’s players? Well, it’s not great. Only Tanguy Ndombele has scored more than one league goal this campaign, and only Sergio Reguilon has more than one assist.
Gareth Bale, Lucas Moura and Giovani Lo Celso have each contributed a single league goal. Steven Bergwijn, Erik Lamela, Dele Alli, Harry Winks, Sissoko and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg have not scored one between them. When Kane and Son are flying, as they have been this season, it is not a major issue. But what if one of them suffers an injury? What if a sharp-minded opponent finally finds a way to slow them down?
The likes of Bergwijn and Lucas, in particular, will be expected to do more if Mourinho is to succeed in turning this team into genuine title challengers. And while it is not the job of players such as Sissoko of Hojbjerg to regularly push forward, they have shown themselves to be capable of impacting games in the final third.
Sissoko’s goal against Brentford must therefore be seen as a significant step forward. The same can be said of Ndombele’s assist at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, a lovely weighted pass to the onrushing Son. Ndombele’s performances have improved dramatically this season but until now those crucial numbers, in terms of goal and assists, have not followed.
The cynical response here would be to point out that Sissoko and Ndombele’s game-changing interventions came against Championship opposition, and that we cannot read too much into one match against Brentford. Except Brentford are evidently playing close to a Premier League level, in terms of performance and league position, and it would be no surprise to see them in the top flight next season.
In the Premier League this season, Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Arsenal and Leeds United all have at least three players who have scored three or more goals this season. Most of these teams are not as threatening in attack as Tottenham, but there is a greater spread of threat among their players which, over time, will surely be beneficial.
Mourinho himself will know all about the importance of goals being scored across the team. In his most recent Premier League title-winning season, the 2014/15 campaign with Chelsea, he had Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Loic Remy, Oscar, Didier Drogba and Cesc Fabregas all contributing goals and assists, as well as goalscoring defenders in the shape of John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic.
For the last five years, Tottenham have had plenty of goals from midfield. Christian Eriksen hit double figures in all competitions in all but one of his full seasons at the club, while Alli’s impressive tally of 50 Premier League goals and 33 assists in 160 appearances tells its own story.
With Eriksen gone and Alli out of the picture, a time will come when others must step up to ease the burden on Kane and Son. Sissoko and Ndombele showed against Brentford that they can make a difference in the final third - the challenge for them, and their team-mates, is to do it more often.
Outside Kane and Son, only Tanguy Ndombele has scored more than one league goal this term, and only Sergio Reguilon has more than one assist
By Sam Dean 6 January 2021 • 9:35am
So much has been made this season of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son's understanding Credit: EPA
Harry Kane and Son Heung-min do plenty of defensive work for their Tottenham Hotspur team-mates, so it is surely about time those team-mates started doing some offensive work for them. The great two-man attack of the Premier League shows no signs of slowing down, with Son contributing another goal in Tuesday’s win over Brentford, but the most encouraging aspect of the night might just be a rare goal from a Tottenham midfielder.
Moussa Sissoko had not taken a single shot this season before this League Cup semi-final. You would not have known it from the quality of his finish against Brentford, a superb header into the top corner, but that lack of goal threat from midfield will one day become a problem if the Kane-Son connection is ever broken.
So much has been made this season of Kane and Son’s understanding, and rightly so. In the Premier League, they have scored 22 of Tottenham’s 29 goals. Son has 12 goals and five assists in the league, while Kane has 10 goals and 11 assists.
As for the rest of Jose Mourinho’s players? Well, it’s not great. Only Tanguy Ndombele has scored more than one league goal this campaign, and only Sergio Reguilon has more than one assist.
Gareth Bale, Lucas Moura and Giovani Lo Celso have each contributed a single league goal. Steven Bergwijn, Erik Lamela, Dele Alli, Harry Winks, Sissoko and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg have not scored one between them. When Kane and Son are flying, as they have been this season, it is not a major issue. But what if one of them suffers an injury? What if a sharp-minded opponent finally finds a way to slow them down?
The likes of Bergwijn and Lucas, in particular, will be expected to do more if Mourinho is to succeed in turning this team into genuine title challengers. And while it is not the job of players such as Sissoko of Hojbjerg to regularly push forward, they have shown themselves to be capable of impacting games in the final third.
Sissoko’s goal against Brentford must therefore be seen as a significant step forward. The same can be said of Ndombele’s assist at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, a lovely weighted pass to the onrushing Son. Ndombele’s performances have improved dramatically this season but until now those crucial numbers, in terms of goal and assists, have not followed.
The cynical response here would be to point out that Sissoko and Ndombele’s game-changing interventions came against Championship opposition, and that we cannot read too much into one match against Brentford. Except Brentford are evidently playing close to a Premier League level, in terms of performance and league position, and it would be no surprise to see them in the top flight next season.
In the Premier League this season, Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Arsenal and Leeds United all have at least three players who have scored three or more goals this season. Most of these teams are not as threatening in attack as Tottenham, but there is a greater spread of threat among their players which, over time, will surely be beneficial.
Mourinho himself will know all about the importance of goals being scored across the team. In his most recent Premier League title-winning season, the 2014/15 campaign with Chelsea, he had Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Loic Remy, Oscar, Didier Drogba and Cesc Fabregas all contributing goals and assists, as well as goalscoring defenders in the shape of John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic.
For the last five years, Tottenham have had plenty of goals from midfield. Christian Eriksen hit double figures in all competitions in all but one of his full seasons at the club, while Alli’s impressive tally of 50 Premier League goals and 33 assists in 160 appearances tells its own story.
With Eriksen gone and Alli out of the picture, a time will come when others must step up to ease the burden on Kane and Son. Sissoko and Ndombele showed against Brentford that they can make a difference in the final third - the challenge for them, and their team-mates, is to do it more often.
