Get Harry Some Silverware, Any Trophy Will Do At This Point…

At 28-years-old, Harry Kane is a six-time top scorer in the Premier League, the scorer of more than one goal every two games for England, is the nation’s captain, but is yet to hold a trophy. Given the seeming halt to progression since Mauricio Pochettino’s departure, it’s understandable that pundits tipped him to leave Spurs. Still, he remained, even if the announcement of the star striker remaining in North London was somewhat dubiously worded, stating that he’ll stay “this summer” on Twitter.

In any case, with only a couple more years left of prime Kane, one of the greatest tragedies in English football continues to play out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As reported by The Guardian, “my focus… is to win Silverware,” with the fact that he’s come so close before only making his plight all the more frustrating. In 2019, the Champions League Final effort was lacklustre, at best, and then the shot at the League Cup was seemingly scuffled by booting serial-winner José Mourinho just before the trip to Wembley.

Now, it’s a new season, with very few expectations for Spurs and a blank slate with Nuno Espírito Santo at the helm. Still, for the sake of one of Spurs’ finest products ever, the focus and expectation has to be to bring him at least one trophy.

A positive marker to commence the campaign

Spurs crawled to seventh last season, with Mourinho departing on 19 April to leave interim rookie Ryan Mason in charge, despite legend Ledley King present as the assistance first-team coach. Finishing with 62 points enabled the club to keep Arsenal out of the new third tier of European football by a single point. Last season started sporadically, with a 1-0 loss to Everton, followed by a 2-5 win over Southampton, a 1-1 tie with Newcastle, an almighty 6-1 smashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford, and then a 3-3 tie with West Ham.

The start to the 2021/22 campaign was certainly more calm, concise, and consistent. Three games in, and Spurs were top of the league following another 1-0 win. Kane didn’t feature against Manchester City, made a cameo appearance against Wolverhampton Wanderers, and played the full 90 against Watford. So, the three wins are even more impressive, even if they were by the absolute bare minimum margin.

While stranger things have certainly happened in the Premier League, Spurs are expected to tail off. Before the season, on 12 August, in fact, CBS Sports has Spurs finishing seventh, but that was at a time when Kane looked to have a foot out of the door. Having proven to be able to win without a full-throttle Kane since, and him now seemingly being back, Spurs’ prospects have only improved. However, they’re still out at 33 per cent to qualify for the Champions League with FiveThirtyEight, sitting in fifth.

Target the cups

https://youtube.com/watch?v=B_pJm9djsUY

What looks to be Tottenham Hotspur’s best crack at some silverware this season would also plant them in the history books. Despite an unfortunate start to the campaign, Spurs are very much in the mix to become the inaugural Europa Conference League winners. As of 6 September, Betway have Tottenham as the favourites at 11/2, with Mourinho’s AS Roma just behind. UEFA also notes that Kane will break Steve Perryman’s record appearance count in UEFA club competitions, currently at 64.

Spurs certainly look poised to top their group. In 2019/20, Stade Rennais remarkably qualified for the Champions League, but failed to win a group stage game and finished sixth in Ligue 1 last season. They’ve also just lost young talisman Eduardo Camavinga to Real Madrid for around €30 million. The French team looks to be the greatest challenge, but a trip to Murska Sobota to face Mura won’t be welcomed mid-week.

Still, the Europa Conference League is shaping up to be the best silverware to aim for, and offers a tangible milestone of progression by granting a place in the Europa League. Deep domestic cup runs have been a regular feature in recent seasons, with the decision to sack Mourinho before the League Cup Final last year dimming the team’s chances of adding to their 2007/08 win. Still, all of the usual suspects ahead of Spurs in the Premier League predictions are also favoured for the cups, particularly Manchester City.

At the end of it all, Harry Kane looks to have been duped into staying at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As he’s a model professional, he’s expected to still go all-out to pull his team to new heights. The least that the club can do for the glory-seeking superstar is get his hands on a trophy – any of them will do at this point.