Unflashy Kane is a very British hero

Harry Kane had already begun to make his mark when he lined up for Tottenham against Chelsea on New Year’s Day 2015

- Jonathan WILSON

There’d been some promising appearances in the Europa League – including the game against Asteras Tripoli in which he scored a hat-trick and ended up going in goal for the final minutes, letting in a goal after fumbling a free-kick. He had scored a last-minute winner against Aston Villa that Mauricio Pochettino said had saved his job, and then had scored in three consecutive 2-1 wins through December. But it was in that big clash, against the then-Premier League leaders Chelsea, on the first day of 2015 that really underlined what a talent he was.

I remember the conversation I had with another journalist before kick-off. Both of us were a little baffled by Kane; we couldn’t work out why he was good. He wasn’t especially tall, he wasn’t especially quick, he didn’t dribble past people or seem to have any profound technical skill, and he wasn’t explosive in the manner of an Alan Shearer. There was a slight awkwardness to him; he didn’t have the lithe grace of many forwards. Was his scoring streak just a flash in the pan? Against Chelsea, Kane scored twice and won a penalty in a 5-3 win. I’m not sure I had much greater insight into what made Kane exceptional, but I knew that he was.