Vincent Janssen Hands Tottenham the Scope to Make Harry Kane Even More Potent

Harry Kane will be forgiven if he feels like an only child who has had his nice family life interrupted by the arrival of a new sibling.

The transfer stork has delivered a new brother-in-arms for the Tottenham Hotspur attack—Vincent Janssen from AZ Alkmaar. For the first time in well over a year, Kane may not be the main focus of planning, and his existence is now tied up with someone else.

OK, this is a bit of an exaggeration. Tottenham also made use of Nacer Chadli, Clinton Njie and Heung-Min Son up front at various points in 2015-16, while a season earlier Kane was also partnered with Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado.

But it is testament to the 23-year-old’s supreme form during this period that Spurs have largely got by just using him as a lone striker.

Chadli, Njie and Son were manager Mauricio Pochettino’s concessions to giving Kane a rest, with only the South Korean posing strong arguments as a legitimate alternative ready to not just make up the numbers (albeit with some more concentrated work required).

Even then the England international was brought on in games like the Europa League and FA Cup wins over FK Qarabag and Leicester City, respectively, just to make sure the team saw the contests out.

Soldado and Adebayor were paired with Kane during 2014-15. The Spaniard initially did decent work alongside his young partner—the defeats of Everton and Hull City stand out—but after the turn of the year, his presence felt more of a hindrance than help.

Since then, the basic tactic of running Spurs’ attack through Kane has worked well.

Finishing year one of Pochettino’s tenure with 30 goals in all competitions, he struck another 28 last time out. His 25 in the Premier League won him the Golden Boot as he spearheaded a versatile, often relentless offensive charge that took the team within reach of the title.

In Dele Alli, Kane had an energetic and well-rounded foil who essentially served the function of a strike partner with his impressive production (10 goals and 12 assists, the latter tallied by WhoScored.com) and defence-unsettling gusto. All the while continuing to do the less glamorous midfield duties further back.

It still beggars belief that Roy Hodgson did not do more to utilise the understanding between these club-mates at the summer’s European Championship, diluting it instead by shoehorning in star players.

Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela led the other attacking midfielders working well with Kane, too. Either combining with him directly or reaping the benefits of things like his harrying defenders or off-ball running, their centre-forward worked hard to ensure their efforts did not go to waste.

While augmented by the likes of Chadli and Son, this quartet’s general effectiveness soon saw them recognised as the first-choice men at the head of Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1. Four musketeers in one of the Premier League’s most swashbuckling attacks, at their best—see April’s 4-0 thrashing of Stoke City—they were mesmerising.

Janssen’s introduction has raised the prospect of this quartet now becoming a famous five (hopefully a more considered and less gung-ho one than Ossie Ardiles’ 1994-95 version featuring Darren Anderton, Nick Barmby, Ilie Dumitrescu, Jurgen Klinsmann and Teddy Sheringham), a development that would see those attacking midfielders’ positioning at least tweaked to accommodate Kane’s own forced adjustments to a new partner.

It is far from set as Spurs’ definitive strategy. In the games since Kane returned from post-Euro 2016 rest against Inter Milan and Everton he started in his familiar lone-striker role.

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