I REFUSE TO SHOW ANY WEAKNESS ... EVEN IF I’M BOILING UP INSIDE!
FOOTAGE of Harry Kane’s first-ever league goal is hard to come by. A BBC report from Leyton Orient’s 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in January 2011 described it as a “neat finish” so at least we know he was starting as he meant to go on. In Kane’s mind’s eye, it remains vivid.
“It was a wide free-kick,” he said. “I was hovering near the back post, the ball went past everyone and bounced in front of me and I just put it in the roof of the net. I won’t forget that one.”
Since that day on loan at Brisbane Road, Kane has scored 75 more league goals, 59 of them coming in a two-and-a-half-year flurry for Tottenham.
He is now England’s most eminent marksman. As Wayne Rooney has aged and Jamie Vardy has returned to the shadows, Kane is Tottenham’s No 10 and, for the future it seems, England’s No 9.
How easy is it? Does Kane really “just put it in the roof of the net” like he says? “It’s instinct, natural,” he explained. “When that ball drops to me my body takes over and my mind is just blank really.
“I couldn’t tell you what is in my head at that moment because, really, there is nothing, only focus. Then the goal is pure joy. But how does it happen? We don’t really know.”
Conversations with great goalscorers are often like this. They often don’t have answers, just a bunch of statistics that tell the story.
“I used to watch Jermain Defoe train here,” added Kane. “One of the very best. Shoot early. One touch. Through a defender’s legs.
“He also knew the odds were in his favour just after he missed one as he knew he was unlikely to miss two. I try to mimic that.
“Anyone can miss a chance but it’s how you react. Are you ready for the next one and the one after that? That’s the mindset I try to have.
“Mind you, it doesn’t stop you being annoyed after you have missed one.”
Kane has always had a reputation for hard work. He credits an increase in strength and speed that has come from manager Mauricio Pochettino’s emphasis on physical conditioning for his rapid rise to prominence.
Kane’s instincts are matched by a calmness you can’t teach. A former teammate from a loan spell at Millwall recalls playing against Kane when the teenager faced him as a loanee with Leicester.
Alan Dunne revealed: “I said, ‘Harry, you go near that ball I’m gonna smash you’. He didn’t look at me. I couldn’t get any reaction from him at all.” Reminded of this, Kane smiled.
“That happened a lot when I was on loan,” he recalled. “That particular day it was actually another Millwall defender who threatened me more. He said, ‘I haven’t got a yellow card yet, I’m gonna use it on you’.
“The funny thing was that two minutes later we both went up for a header and he ended up wounded on the floor. So that made me pretty happy.”
A four-handicap golfer – he has a golf simulator in his house – Kane by all accounts takes this steady temperament on to the course.
“I just don’t like to show weakness in football or any sport,” he explained. “I don’t want to show my opponent I am angry even if I am boiling inside. You see someone getting angry and you know you are in their head. So I never show it.
“I’m passionate and want to win at everything. But it’s about controlling that passion. You win when you are relaxed.”
Kane’s record over time spent at Spurs, Leicester, Norwich, Millwall and Orient shows just 15 yellow cards and, right at the start, one rogue red.
“That was a big learning curve,” he said. “It was Huddersfield away for Orient and I got a yellow early. Then later this guy kicked into me and fell over and rolled around. The home fans got into it and I was sent off.
“The guy knew exactly what he was doing. He was being smart and I wasn’t. The worst thing was we had Arsenal in an FA Cup replay next and I missed that. I was gutted.
“So there we learned.”
Talk of temperament will always be relevant at Tottenham as long as memories of last season’s go. Lesson Battle of Stamford Bridge remain. Two goals up at Chelsea and hunting down Premier League leaders Leicester, Pochettino’s players lost their lead and their heads to draw and hand the title to Claudio Ranieri’s team.
Kane does not hide from the weaknesses exposed that night but believes Tottenham have revealed evidence of change already. Lesson learned, as he would say.
“At 2-0 up, it was time to keep calm and let them get frustrated,” he said. “But we were so heated for the game we got drawn into their fight and their battle. Exactly as they wanted. It hurt badly but I am very proud of what we did this season when we beat them at White Hart Lane. That showed we had learned. Again we had control but this time we came out in the second half and everyone was patient and we won 2-0. If we had shown that mentality last season who knows what would have happened.” Kane admits that it’s time Tottenham won a trophy but, contracted until 2022, is adamant he will be around to lead the chase. “If you want to be a big club then you have to keep your big players and I love it here,” he said. “I work for one of the best managers in the world and have one of the best young teams in the world, so why leave? “Some players want to earn as much as possible but for me it is about being happy. Money is a plus to what I do but it doesn’t make you happy on its own. We have responded well to what happened last season and the fact we are second now shows where the club are going. Now it’s time to turn that into winning something. We have talked about it but really need to do it.” Kane’s early progress at Tottenham was modest. There were almost two years between his first Spurs goal – at Shamrock Rovers in December 2011 – and his next, against Hull, in August 2013. In between were loans at Millwall, Norwich and Leicester that didn’t impress everyone. For example, he started only six league games for Norwich and Leicester in the 2012-13 season.
“That was the lowest time,” he said. “I was 19, living away from home and not playing. You always have that doubt. If you’re not playing there then how are you ever going to play for Tottenham?
“It was difficult but it was a big part of my career. A year later I was on the bench at Tottenham under AVB (Andre Villas-Boas) and also Tim (Sherwood).
“Had I not had that experience of doing that at Norwich or Leicester then maybe I would have wanted to leave Tottenham. But by then I knew how to handle the frustration.”
Sherwood played a critical part in Kane’s development but it was Pochettino who eventually eased Emmanuel Adebayor out of his team to make way for Kane in November 2014.
“That was a brave move by him,” Kane said. “It’s very rare in the Premier League but he would rather bring a youngster through who he believes in than buy an older player.
“You have seen players like Harry Winks and how fantastic he is. I wish it happened more. Managers are under huge pressure but it would be good to see them get time to bring younger players through.”
On this theme, I ask him what the purchase of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Manchester United has done for a player like young forward Marcus Rashford.
“It’s difficult for Man United as they had dominated the league for so long and then all of a sudden that’s over,” he said. “They are trying to get back into contention and they feel the best way is by getting a big manager to buy big players. It doesn’t always work.
“Marcus is a fantastic player and hopefully he won’t get pushed into the background. He will need opportunities and I hope he gets them.
“I guarantee you there are so many players in academies who are good enough. Hopefully what has happened to me, and the way it happened, can show that.”
Kane’s average day begins differently now that two have become three. The birth of his daughter Ivy last month has changed his life somewhat.
“I was up at 7am to do the feed this morning,” he said. “But that was good because Tiger Woods was on TV and I never miss Tiger. Love watching him.
“I thought it would be harder but she is sleeping OK. Sometimes it’s a bit surreal. I pick her up and can’t quite believe that she is really mine. But I am changing nappies and all that. No problem.”
Kane is still only 23. Much has changed but at his side throughout has been partner Kate. As Kane’s profile has gone through the roof their life has inevitably altered.
“Players are used to it but it’s difficult for the families at times as they are not told how to deal with it,” he said. “We can be out and people will stop us for photos or they want to talk.
“At the start Kate found it difficult but now she knows it’s the life we are living. She is very respectful and I would like to think we both are. She realises that I used to be that person too. If I had seen one of my heroes I would have asked for a picture as well.”
Kane was a fan before he was a footballer. He used to watch England in the pub with face paint on. His own England experiences have been mixed. He scored on his debut but was subsequently part of his country’s miserable Euro 2016 tournament.
“It was hard because I was so excited,” he said. “I had dreamed of it as a kid. To be part of it – being No 9 – was so exciting. But it didn’t go as I wanted it to.
“The whole tournament consisted of games I couldn’t get into. I couldn’t get touches, couldn’t get chances, it was just weird. I can’t complain about the hype, I was part of that hype when I was younger. All I can do is learn from it and get experience like I have in the past and hopefully one day get the chance to put it all right.”
It will be a surprise if Kane doesn’t score many more goals for England. He won’t be able to tell you how he does it, though. Or maybe he just doesn’t want to. – Daily Mail