DEJAN VIEW: HE’S SEEN ALL THIS BEFORE!
Kane is getting back to his best and Pirlo pupil is helping him on his way
Kane 13, 66 BRIGHTON
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BY MATTHEW DUNN TOTTENHAM’S ‘misfiring’ striker Harry Kane prodded home his 25th goal of the season for club and country to ease his side into the FA Cup fifth round.
Now Spurs new-boy Dejan Kulusevski is promising to help him get lots more thanks to some hints and tips he picked up from a certain Italian playmaker called Andrea Pirlo.
Kane’s world-class finishing punished a careless mistake by Adam Webster for the first goal and pure hunger got him to the ball first for Spurs’ third.
Both are a fair indication that whatever problems the 28-yearold may or may not have had earlier in the season, he is close to his best again. Kane’s passing on Saturday was sublime at times and he could easily have doubled his own tally.
As it was, a pair either side of a Solly March own-goal was more than enough to reduce Yves Bissouma’s determined strike to little more than a brief inconvenience.
Not only was Kane close to his best, but Heung-Min Son and Cristian Romero looked sharp after recovering from injuries and it was even a chance to blood new signings Rodrigo Bentancur and Kulusevski.
The latter looked a little rusty having spent most of the season on the Juventus bench at the behest of Max Allegri. But the season before, previous Juve boss Pirlo played him in all bar three Serie A games.
“Pirlo is a fantastic coach and a fantastic guy,” the Sweden international said. “He always spoke to me a lot about how I should shape my body and how I can look for passes without showing the opposition where I am going to play the ball.
“And that is exactly what I hope will help me to help Harry even more in the future.
“I always look to help my team-mates to score goals – it does not matter if I score or somebody else. Just the team getting the goals is the main thing.”
Last season Kulusevski (left) played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo for his club, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his country, and against Lionel Messi in the Champions League.
The 21-year-old does not back away from adding Kane’s name to that exalted company and said: “He is unbelievable. What impressed me was his technique, the way he stops the ball and changes the whole pitch with his passes from both feet.
“I know that when he has the ball I have to run because he will find me.”
Bentancur looked the sharper of the pair, smoothly slotting in as a defensive midfielder. Spurs face Middlesbrough in the fifth round later next month, but the aim for both players now is to get a run of games in the Premier League.
“This season I have played very little, so I just want to play as much as possible so my body comes alive and everything will get better,” Kulusevksi added.