DAGGER TO
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MARK NOBLE had to grit his teeth before admitting that Tottenham had won football’s equivalent of the lottery.
The lifelong Hammers fan and club skipper reckons Spurs supporters ought to count their lucky stars having hotshot Harry Kane in the team.
The England striker’s two goals at the London Stadium took his September tally to eight in five games after a now trademark dry August.
Kane’s hot streak was not lost on fellow England star and Hammers keeper Joe Hart. Carrying his son, Harlow, Hart leaned over as Noble was talking to say: “Tell him to stop scoring past daddy!”
Noble said: “Obviously it hurts me because I am a West Ham fan.
“But I hope the club, and their fans especially, appreciate what they have got at their club.
“It’s not often you get a special talent like Harry come through the ranks and score goals like he does.
“I don’t know what Kane’s worth in this market now, especially to a team like Spurs.
Reaping
“They have kept him, too, and if he keeps on playing like he is they are going to have to be strong to keep him.” So what is Kane worth? “It’s easily got to be £100m-plus because he gets goals – and goals in this game are hard to come by. You pay a premium for that,” added Noble.
“You can spend, like they did when they sold Gareth Bale and spent £120m.
“But then they brought Kane back to the club (from his loan spell at Leicester). They give him a chance and Mauricio Pochettino puts his arm around him and he’s reaping the benefits of that now.”
Kane also struck the post twice, with Christian Eriksen Tottenham’s other scorer, and looked even stronger and sharper than last season when he was again the Premier League’s Golden Boot winner.
When it was suggested Kane is not quick, Noble laughed: “You’d be surprised when you are out there. What do you judge on quick, do you judge that on Kyle Walker?
“Harry’s got a different running style. He is powerful and he glides across the ground.
“When he gets the ball on his right foot, and his left foot now, there is every chance he’s going to get a goal and he proved that again against us.”
Spurs held on after Serge Aurier was sent off for a second booking in the 70th minute.
Javier Hernandez scored just before then and Cheikhou Kouyate made the visitors sweat with a second in the 87th minute. “We got a little bit of pride back at the end,” added Noble. “It is a lot worse when you lose and you don’t play well. I thought the boys started so well and we were a little bit shocked to go in at half-time 2-0 down.
“Then we come out and just didn’t give up. Obviously they got the third goal, which is a killer in any game.
“But we still didn’t give up after then and kept going and got a couple of goals.”