Writing in the Daily Mirror, Stan Collymore has compared Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane to Jermain Defoe.
Exalted company no doubt given Defoe’s consistent goal scoring record in the Premier League but Collymore was actually suggesting Kane was a level below the likes of Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and Robbie Fowler.
The England captain recently became the eleventh player to score 150 Premier League goals with only Alan Shearer and Sergio Aguero proving quicker than him to get to that mark, though Collymore is not convinced he’s at the top table when it comes to strikers of that level.
While it must be said Collymore is not downplaying Kane’s achievements, he does write: ‘I’d be putting Kane on the right-hand sides alongside Jermain Defoe.’
'Now, Defoe is in the top 10 because he was consistent over a number of years but we’d never talk about him with the same reverence we’d talk about the other five I’ve mentioned.'
'And the same goes for Kane, because I just don’t think he has the same X-factor they all had.'
‘Certainly, his goals haven’t been influential and instrumental in his team winning major trophies like theirs were.’
The ‘theirs’ he’s talking about are the likes of Shearer, Henry, Fowler, Andy Cole and Wayne Rooney who all won major trophies during their spells in the upper echelons of the Premier League.
That does seem slightly unfair and, given Kane's standing, it's fair to say it's a big call.
The striker has largely carried Spurs’ goalscoring burden for years without a genuine back-up and probably would have scored more had he not missed large chunks of the last few seasons with injury.
Furthermore, aside from two seasons under Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham have never been genuine challengers for the league title so expecting one man to lead them to glory isn’t realistic.
Some of the other names mentioned were also playing in the best teams in England during their careers so naturally were more likely to see their efforts rewarded in the way of silverware.
Perhaps it’ll always be a criticism of Kane until he wins a major trophy. However, given his support network and the amount of injuries he’s had to deal with, it seems unfair to judge him for not winning the league yet.