Harry Kane has shown this season that you can be one of the best strikers in the world and still take your game to a new level. In his case, it has meant expanding his role in Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich XI.
Kane has long been a forward with not only superb goal-scoring ability, but preternatural passing range. Even so, what he is doing for Bayern this year is something else — and you can see the difference in his heatmap so far (via Sofascore):
Despite less activity in the box and more from deep-lying positions in his own half, Kane has higher goals-per-90, 1.44, this season versus last (0.98) — showing that his adjustments have not come at the expense of his involvement in scoring.
“It’s down to the system that we play,” Kane explained for TNT sports, as captured by @iMiaSanMia. “I think it allows me to express myself…both with the ball in terms of dropping deep and trying to be the overload and using my passing range. And also my ability to get out of tight areas to help the team move up the pitch and arrive a bit later in the box where I still get chances.”
As Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice noted after their Champions League clash this week, Bayern’s week-in, week-out man-to-man system is not easy to contend with nor common to encounter. But it is what allows Kane to become a complete player and cover every blade of grass on the pitch — even in the back.
“Defensively, in the man-to-man way we play, sometimes it means I end up playing as a deep No. 6 or a center-back,” Kane went on. “I’ve always enjoyed defending, even from a young age. Even though I’m a goal scorer, I always enjoy putting a tackle in or blocking shots.
“There’s been moments like that this season, especially in maybe bigger games where there’s been a bit more noise around it, like the tackle against Dortmund. I enjoy being involved in all parts of the game, and I think this season you’ve seen that enjoyment come out on the pitch.”
Bayern fans are being treated to absolute wonders this season. How far can Kane go?
