WILL KANE LEAVE SHEARER IN THE SHADE?
Kane chasing goal No 37 today to break Shearer’s record
HARRY KANE will make history and break Alan Shearer’s record of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year if he scores against Southampton today. The Spurs striker equalled Shearer’s tally with his hattrick at Burnley on Saturday.
IT FEELS inevitable that one of Alan Shearer’s goalscoring records will be broken today but Harry Kane is already dreaming of a bigger prize.
The Tottenham striker’s hattrick at Burnley on Saturday took his tally for 2017 to 36 goals, equalling Shearer’s haul in 1995. One more against Southampton at Wembley today would cap the finest year of his career.
But there is also Shearer’s all-time Premier League record of 260 that Kane, on 93, is not shying away from talking about.
‘Of course you dream about it,’ he said. ‘I’ve had a great 2017 and hopefully I can improve in 2018 and get even better. But I’d be silly to look that far ahead. I’ve still got a long way to go.
‘A lot can happen in football, hopefully I can stay fit, stay sharp and we’ll see what happens. Maybe if I get to 200 and I’ve got a few more years left, I’ll start to think about it more.’
If he continues at this rate then Shearer will have to move aside at the top of the all-time list. Kane, 24, has been in astonishing form and will continue playing in teams creating a bucket load of chances throughout his career. Only Paris Saint- Germain’s Edinson Cavani and Lionel Messi at Barcelona have scored more in all competitions in Europe.
It will fill England manager Gareth Southgate, who was at Turf Moor on Saturday, with hope heading to the World Cup finals in Russia, particularly as his telepathy with Dele Alli is slowly being rewired.
‘I’m the striker, I’ll get the praise and get spoken about, but it’s so important the team does well,’ said Kane, who now has 25 goals in 27 games for club and country.
‘Dele’s got that aggressive side to him and that’s what makes him who he is. Maybe he fed off the crowd at Burnley. He was the pantomime villain.’
Kane’s performance at Burnley was much needed after only one away win for Spurs since September. Manager Mauricio Pochettino was frank in suggesting that expectation has risen too quickly for his squad.
He said: ‘ The thing you must analyse is in the last two seasons we were third and second. This year is a transition with a move from our stadium to Wembley, so the expectation cannot be the same.
‘We have never used Wembley as an excuse but people need to understand the club is building a new stadium. It’s so important to recognise that every season is changing and this means things are not as stable as in previous seasons.’
It is not Tottenham’s form at Wembley that has been the issue for Pochettino. He said: ‘ Maybe the last few away games have created a little bit of low energy and bad feeling from the team. It’s true that we can do better, but I think we are having a fantastic season.’
Alli will not face any retrospective action because video evidence was not clear cut that he dived to win a penalty at Burnley.