MY ACCOUNT
Antonio Conte insists he was never worried about Harry Kane’s form despite the Tottenham striker enduring something of a slump in the first half of the season.
Kane looked a shadow of his usual self earlier in the campaign, scoring just one Premier League goal under Nuno Espirito Santo.
His performance certainly did not improve dramatically after Conte’s arrival, as the England captain’s next Premier League goal only arrived on December 19.
But since Christmas, Kane has netted six times in nine games across all competitions, including a brace in Saturday’s 3-1 FA Cup defeat of Brighton and Hove Albion.
During Nuno’s brief reign, it was felt Spurs were not getting enough out of Kane in any sense – he averaged just 0.24 expected goals (xG) per 90 minutes in the Premier League, his worst record under any Spurs manager in a single season, while his touches of the ball dipped significantly to an average of 38.4 each game.
This showed he was not snuffing out many clear-cut opportunities and his general influence had waned, but under Conte he has seemingly recovered – he averages 0.56 xG each match, a record he has only bettered in 2017-18 (0.65) and 2013-14 (0.89, under Tim Sherwood), while he is touching the ball 46.3 times per game.
While he is still technically under-performing in relation to xG with 0.3 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes, he has improved as a goal threat. Not that Conte had any concerns, though.
“Honestly, I wasn’t worried before in the past when he didn’t score a lot, because his performance was always very, very high,” Conte told reporters. “He played very well in every game for the team, he worked a lot for the team and is a fantastic player for me.
“He’s not selfish but now that he’s scoring I’m happy for him and the team, because if he scores we have more probability to get three points or go to the next round in a trophy competition.
“As I said to you before, in the past his performances were very, very, very positive for me, despite him not scoring a lot in the past. We’re talking about a world-class striker. He’s able to score in every game. We’ve also to try to help him to score.”
Kane himself recently commented how he believes he is the fittest he has ever been.
Conte is renowned for being a demanding coach on the training ground, particularly when it comes to the physical aspects.
And it is focusing on this side of things, and building their setup around him, that Conte believes has improved Kane’s overall sharpness
“Surely when you have a player like Harry, you have to try to involve him in your tactical idea of football,” Conte continued. “He’s an important player for us and he has to be a point of reference when we develop our football offensively.
“We’re trying to work with him in many aspects. I think that every single player can improve until the end when he decides to stop his career.
“We’re talking about a really good person who shows desire every day during training sessions. He’s available with his teammates and is always ready to speak about football, to try to improve and also to see new tactical situations.
“I repeat, we’re talking about a world-class striker and I’m trying to help him to become also better and better. Me, my staff on the physical aspect we are working – but not only with him, with all the team.
“To reduce our gap [in the Premier League], it’s very important to improve every single player in many aspects. If this player is Kane, we’re talking about a world-class striker, but it’s the same for [Dane] Scarlett. We have to try to improve every single player, and in this way we can improve as a team and be more competitive than before.”
