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12th Sep 2017

Jamie Carragher names the one Premier League player he would pick if he was a manager

High praise

Robert Redmond

“I think he’s an absolute guarantee every season to get you 25 goals.”

Jamie Carragher was joined by Sam Allardyce for Monday Night Football on Sky Sports, and their discussions were a lot more interesting than the featured match, West Ham United versus Huddersfield.

West Ham’s 2-0 win, their first victory of the season against previously unbeaten Huddersfield, wasn’t a particularly entertaining game for the neutral, but the home side won’t care. Joe Hart even managed to keep a clean sheet.

Following the match, Carragher and Allardyce spoke about a range of topics, including Harry Kane. Big Sam was infamously England manager for a single game, before losing his job in controversial circumstances, and it was possible to detect a tinge of regret when he spoke about Kane and his on-field partnership with Dele Alli.

Allardyce said Kane is a “world class” striker, and it’s difficult to argue with that view.

The England forward scored his 100th and 101st goals for Spurs in their 3-0 win over Everton on Saturday, and he’s now in esteemed company when it comes to goal scorers in the top-flight.

Monday Night Football

Carragher was also full of praise for the 24-year-old. The former Liverpool defender said that, if he had the choice of just one player from the Premier League, he would opt for Kane, and explained his reasoning.

“When Harry Kane initially came on, because of where he came from – going on-loan, not being straight in at Tottenham – you always felt, is there something missing from his game?” Carragher said.

“Why have all these coaches not seen it at the start? But he’s put that to bed, in fact he’s in his third or fourth season now, (and has) 100 goals. He may not be best player in Premier League – he wouldn’t be far off, he’d be in the top bracket. But if I was a manager and I wanted to pick one player from Premier League in my team, I’d pick Harry Kane. Because I think he’s an absolute guarantee every season to get you 25 goals, over a four-year period that’s 100 goals. He looks very strong mentally, he looks as if the only thing he focuses on is football, he doesn’t get involved in any other nonsense and I just think he’s world class.”

Kane has been the top scorer in the Premier League for the last two seasons. He didn’t score in August, but got off the mark on Saturday and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he outscores everyone else in the division again this season.