The older I get, the more I realise I was wrong about strikers – and Harry Kane is an example of why I have changed my mind.
When I was young, I thought the great goalscorers were simply born that way. I believed finishing was instinct. You either had it or you didn’t. I probably thought that about myself.
Now this might sound ridiculous given everything Harry has achieved, but I don’t think he was born to become the player he is today. That, as much as anything, is why I love him. That is why, without hesitation, I call him England’s greatest-ever striker.
Some players arrive with gifts that simply can’t be taught. Electric pace. Extraordinary balance. Harry’s greatest gift isn’t physical, it’s mental.
Many years ago, I spent time with him filming a striker’s masterclass at Tottenham. Listening to him talk about practice, repetition and the tiny details of finishing, you quickly realised none of this had happened by accident. He has built himself.
Alan Shearer was similar, and Harry has exactly that mentality. Relentless. Obsessive. Totally convinced that if they work harder than everyone else they will become better than everyone else.
Harry Kane is England’s greatest ever striker, but he wasn’t born to be the player he is today
The 32-year-old became the Three Lions’ all-time leading World Cup goal-scorer against Panama
I have watched Lionel Messi over the years, Kylian Mbappe now, footballers who make you leap out of your seat because they can do things nobody else can. Harry has never been that player for me – and yet he is the best finisher in world football, no doubt.
Left foot, right foot, headers, volleys, penalties, first-time finishes, strikes from distance. Whatever you ask of him, he delivers. He combines something that very few strikers ever manage – incredible power without sacrificing accuracy. Robbie Fowler was like that. He could absolutely leather a ball and still find the corner. Harry does exactly the same. For me, nobody does it better.
With that, his temperament is just off the scale. He is never flustered.
I know he missed a penalty against Croatia in the opening game, but if we’ve got a penalty in a World Cup final, I don’t want anyone else taking it other than Harry Kane. He’s got nerves of steel. I love his single-mindedness. I love his longevity. I love that he never gets injured. And I love that his game has got better and better. Even at 32, he won’t be thinking he can rest on what he has achieved. This comes back to my point about his elite mindset and the work he puts in.
The longer I’ve been retired, the more I’ve analysed the game and coached youngsters, the more I appreciate the craft of goalscoring. It’s why I always tell parents not to rush talented young strikers into older age groups. Everyone gets excited when a 10-year-old is scoring for fun and wants to move him up three age groups. That’s wrong. Making things harder for a striker and giving them one chance a game is not the way to improve. Let him dominate. Let him have six or seven chances every game. That’s how you discover what works for you.
I knew very early in my career that I preferred dinking it over a goalkeeper rather than going around him. You only discover those preferences by repeating the same situations hundreds and thousands of times. Eventually they become instinct. Drop a ball in front of me now, even at my age, and I’d still know exactly what finish to use because I’ve rehearsed those situations for decades.
Harry has done the same and that’s why his finishing looks effortless. It isn’t talent alone. And even though he knows, and we know, what finish he is likely to apply, can defenders and goalkeepers do anything about it? Can they hell!
My one gripe with Harry is the move to Bayern Munich. I said it at the time and I haven’t changed my mind. I understand the benefits, and England will hopefully see that in the next few weeks. His all-round game is so mature, the way he comes into midfield and starts attacks as well as finishing them. But in terms of his career, he is better than the Bundesliga.
I have watched the league more now because of Harry, and beyond Bayern it is very ordinary. Week after week he is playing for a team that dominates possession, dominates territory and creates chance after chance. Of course he scores goals.
But I still think becoming the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer would have been the greater achievement. He would have deserved that. He’d also have had his pick of clubs once his Tottenham contract expired. Manchester United would have moved heaven and earth to sign him. He should probably have gone to Manchester City before Erling Haaland signed.
Winning Bundesliga titles with Bayern was never going to define his greatness because Bayern almost always win them. Had Bayern won the Champions League, perhaps we’d view it differently, but they haven’t.
None of this changes how I feel about Harry Kane. He’s a wonderful footballer, an outstanding captain and a brilliant human-being. More importantly, he’s an example. An example that you don’t always have to be born as Lionel Messi, Pele or Diego Maradona.
Sometimes, the greatest players are the ones who simply refuse to stop improving.
Have you paid attention to the action so far? Try our World Cup quiz HERE.
