TICK-TOCK CHALLENGE
Kev hails Haaland and Kane TOTTENHAM v MAN CITY
SOUTHAMPTON face a race against the clock for deadline-day signings Paul Onuachu and Kamaldeen Sulemana to make their debuts at Brentford today.
Saints are sweating on work permits being granted in time for €20m front-man Onuachu and €28m record buy Sulemana to feature against the Bees.
Frustrated manager Nathan Jones said: (left) Paul Onuachu
“Hopefully in the nottoo-distant future we’ll see them.
“They’re in the building but we’re limited with what we can do with them because of the work permit situation.
“You’re better off ringing the Home Office to find out. We can keep on asking but until we get clarification on their work permits, neither will be involved.”
Meanwhile, Jones insists Saints are still the perfect club for young players, despite seeing one of their crown jewels prised away by Chelsea.
With Chelsea splashing out a British record fee of more than €120m to land Enzo Fernandez from Benfica, their €7m acquisition of teenager Jimmy-Jay Morgan from Saints went under the radar.
Changed
The exit of Morgan (17) raised eyebrows among Saints fans but Jones said: “Football has categorically changed since when I came through and the world has changed.
“It’s wrong for me to comment on the motivation of young players. “Jimmy was a great lad, but he wasn’t ready for our first-team so whatever decision is made around that is fine.
“We have a fantastic academy, we produce players, we have a lot of young players here who need that development.
“Look at Romeo Lavia, Sam Edozie, Gavin Bazunu, all young players. We have enough that we need to get up to speed on a weekly basis.
“It’s difficult to comment because we have a lot of young players and all I can reiterate is there is a pathway here for people and if they want to buy into that then they will be given an opportunity.
“All we have to do is make sure we come through this sticky spell, make sure we are still a Premier League club.” (right) 29
29 2565 18
143
3 1 Goals 9
7
3
15
99
44
18.2
Games 27 Starts 25 Mins Played 2087 Goals 31 Mins/Goal 67 Goals Pens 4 (left-foot) 20 Goals (right-foot) 6 Goals (headed) 5 Goals (outside box) 1 Goals (inside box) 30 Total Shots 97 Shots on Target 51 Shot Conversion % 32
FORMER Premier League sharpshooter Kevin Phillips barely hesitates when asked to assemble the best composite striker from all those he played with, against or has watched in the competition.
It is a question that might have harvested any part of the games of Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Andy Cole or Sergio Aguero, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen or Mohamed Salah — but his response is immediate and unequivocal.
“Almost every bit of Erling Haaland, I would say,” said Phillips (left).
“He is a robot programmed with everything you want. Maybe not his right foot, if you were being picky.”
It is a treat for fans able to attend Tottenham against Manchester City that the only player who could get into Phillips’ composite hitman also happens to be on show tomorrow.
“Haaland is predominantly left-footed but Kane is better with both feet,” said Phillips. “So yeah, Kane gets in with his left foot on the grounds he is a lot more comfortable than Haaland is with his right.”
The numbers back him up with a 267th career goal for Spurs from Kane tomorrow set to take him clear of Jimmy Greaves’s record.
Games
And Haaland, with 25 goals in just 19 games, is on course to smash Cole and Shearer’s jointly-held record of 34 from the mid-90s.
Phillips, at 49 and cutting out a successful second career as manager with South Shields in the Northern Premier League, knows a thing or two about goals.
He was the Golden Boot winner in 1999-2000, beating Shearer, Dwight Yorke, Cole and Henry to the trophy in a season when his 30 in 36 games for Sunderland made him the only Englishman to lift the European Golden Shoe as well.
“Ultimately, what makes the top boys stand out is their ability to find that composure when they are in front of goal,” he said.
“They don’t panic. They just pass it in the net.
“I remember my dad always quoting Jimmy
Greaves at me, saying you would score more goals through passing it in the net than you will smashing it.
“You look at
Haaland and
Kane and they are like that.
Look at Kane’s goal at Fulham,
— he gets half a yard and then bends it.
“He didn’t even look where the goal is, he knows and that is the art of a top striker. Pass it in the net.”
Possess
If Phillips feels Haaland is quicker but Kane has the better weaker foot, the mentality both possess marks them as a cut above.
“Their mentality is so strong,” he said. “You watch when a striker misses a chance and the cameras pick out their reaction.
“You’ve seen players when they blow an opportunity and you know he is not going to get one today because it has affected him.
“Watch Kane and Haaland and you would never know from their reaction. These boys don’t let it affect them one little bit.
“They know there is another coming along and they back themselves.
“If you don’t, and you lose the three points, can you handle that? Some players can. These two can.”