We’ve all seen him do it
Picture the scene: a Tottenham Hotspur player launches the ball high into the air aimed at the opposition’s penalty box. The opposing team’s defenders ready themselves to get to the ball first and clear it.
Harry Kane, however, has different ideas. Sensing the movement of a player behind him, Kane times his own movement with that player’s jump to head the ball. Kane backs into him, falls to the ground, and wins a free-kick.
This is something that Kane has done for a long time, but it appears that only recently people have begun to take issue with it. The point briefly came up earlier in the season, when Kane won a controversial penalty against Brighton after backing into Adam Lallana.
Lallana was left in a heap on the ground. Spurs won and scored the penalty.
Now, there are two ways of looking at this: A) that Kane is an incredibly streetwise footballer who is one of the best in the world at forcing the officials to make a decision through the use of his body, and B) backing into footballers who are at the height of their jump is dangerous.
Both of these statements can be (and probably are) true, and a similar instance in Sunday’s North London derby – when Kane backed into defender Gabriel and left him falling wildly to the ground – has seen a host of journalists and supporters criticise Kane for his tactic.
How long before media darling Harry Kane breaks someone’s neck? He’ll probably get a penalty for it. It’s not even subtle. He looks beforehand. pic.twitter.com/LWIRN9PSgr
— JB™️ (@gunnerpunner) November 1, 2020
Kane could have seriously injured Gabriel here. How does he get away with doing this every game? It's so dangerous. pic.twitter.com/xzim1OlPf4
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley) December 6, 2020
Much as I admire Kane, this needs to be addressed by referees before someone gets seriously injured. No foul given either. https://t.co/8bxRkvfFAa
— Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) December 6, 2020
No comment has been made by any footballing authorities on it, though registered referee charity Ref Support UK has highlighted the tactic in a tweet, calling it “dangerous” and saying that it “needs addressing”.
This is an Interesting point. Like Jack Grealish and his socks, Ronaldo goal celebrations and a Cruyff turn, grassroots players will mimic what they see on TV. This however, is a dangerous Tactic that needs addressing. https://t.co/UcsVyhMvU4
— Refsupportuk (@refsupportuk) December 7, 2020
