Bayern’s striker has played twelve competitive games since his arrival in Munich. How he performed, what sets him apart, who benefits from him, what can be improved and what sets him apart from Robert Lewandowski – an initial assessment.
Has recorded 18 goal involvements in twelve games so far: Harry Kane. IMAGO/Revierfoto
On August 12th, the captain of England’s national team moved to FC Bayern for more than 100 million euros including bonuses. That was a good two months ago now. Since then, Harry Kane has played twelve competitive games across all competitions. The Supercup, seven in the league, two in the Champions League and two European Championship qualifiers. He was allowed to take a break in the first round of the DFB Cup. In total, he scored twelve goals in his dozen appearances. On average, the attacker scores in every game – as was the case on Tuesday evening, when he scored a brace to ensure England’s 3-1 win over Italy and secure their European Championship ticket.
New game structure by Kane
In addition, the 30-year-old, who had no direct involvement in the goal three times, prepared six more goals. And gives the German record champions’ game a new structure. With Kane, whose strengths certainly include first contact when receiving the ball and when finishing, Bayern again have a target player at the top who, unlike Robert Lewandowski, doesn’t just move in the front row. Depending on the opponent and his orientation, Kane lets himself fall, opening up space for the men next to him. Leroy Sané, for example, benefits from this.
Nevertheless, the Brit can be integrated into the game much better. In Copenhagen, for example, in the tough 2-1 draw, there was little to see of him. This was also due to the fact that the Danes defended deeply and were extremely narrowly spaced, especially in their own box, meaning that Kane was not given any gaps or opportunities to finish. It was similar for a long time with the 2-1 win in Mönchengladbach. In both games, the livelier Mathys Tel, who was twelve years younger than him and who grew up in Kane’s shadow and will, in the best case scenario, one day become his successor, scored the winning goal. What can certainly be described as a striker duo that complements each other perfectly.
For coach Thomas Tuchel, Kane is a complete professional who helps his team enormously in training and in the dressing room, as the head coach emphasized several times. Because, like captain Manuel Neuer, who was out injured for a long time, and vice-president Thomas Müller, he immediately takes responsibility. The original Munich native and long-time partner of Lewandowski is also the type of player who feels most comfortable around a real nine – just the coordination still needs to mature.
Kane’s potential has not yet been exhausted
Regardless of whether Müller or Jamal Musiala play behind Kane – what matters is that the Englishman is found even more. Coach Tuchel, who consciously tries to involve him more deeply at times, recently emphasized this again. Knowing full well that the Bavarian offensive has to get used to it again after a year without a real striker. The next seven games every three days until the next international break (four times in the league, two against Istanbul in the premier class and in Saarbrücken in the cup) could help – also in order to further exploit Kane’s full potential little by little.
2023-10-18 09:10:21
#interim #conclusion #Kane #scores #game
