da brwin： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
da bet nacional： Harry Kane was left stranded at the top of the pitch as Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
On the chalkboard
The England international touched the ball a mere 43 times throughout the 90 minutes and managed just two shots on goal.
One of those was a free-kick from range that flew over the bar, while the other was blocked.
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He did complete two dribbles and win three aerial duels but he didn’t really impact the game at all in the final third.
Kane had a pass completion rate of just 61%, meaning he didn’t really link play all that well, and he also didn’t manage to test David de Gea. Instead, he was the battering ram to which a number of balls were thwacked throughout the game.
That’s about it.
Not helped by the system
This is probably the wrong formation to use Kane in.
Jose Mourinho, the new Spurs manager, has given Dele Alli the freedom to roam and it was Kane’s England team-mate who scored Spurs’ goal at Old Trafford.
Featuring Son Heung-Min and Lucas Moura as the two wingers who looked to hug the touchlines before moving infield also left Kane isolated, particularly as neither played well.
Son kept the ball too much, completing eight dribbles but never really offloading it in a useful manner – he did not register a key pass. Lucas, meanwhile, was execrable, completing one dribble and failing to have a shot on goal.
Throughout, Kane – who Transfermarkt value at £135m – was ploughing a lone furrow, constantly looking for a sniff of the ball or a sniff of a chance.
Neither really came and that is not his fault; it is the fault of the system in which he was placed.
Of course, this is only Mourinho’s fourth game as Spurs boss but this is a misstep that he has to right.
Meanwhile, another Spurs man was awful against Man United.