Former Arsenal midfielder Henri Lansbury believes Tottenham will be “up there this year” as they look like a “proper team” with “not everything going through” Harry Kane.
Kane’s departure from Spurs looked as if it would be very damaging. Indeed, he scored 278 goals for the club over the course of his career with them, and was by far their best player over the past few seasons.
Last term, for example, he notched 30 league goals, while the rest of the side wildly underperformed, with Tottenham eventually finishing eighth in the league.
Without Kane, they’d have been much worse off, so his departure suggested that would be the case this season. However, Ange Postecoglou has his side playing very good football, and they’re thriving in the striker’s absence, currently topping the league and are yet to lose a game.
Former Arsenal man Lansbury is actually of the belief that Tottenham have been stronger since Kane left, as they’ve had to find different avenues in attack, rather than just going through him.
“Harry Kane leaving was massive for them. But the goals are coming from elsewhere this year. They seem like a proper team now. Not everything going through Kane,”
Their growth without the star striker leads Lansbury to believe they’ll maintain their top form and be a threat at the top of the table come the end of the season.
“I see Spurs being up there this year,” Lansbury said.
Indeed, he believes they’re also a stronger team after the addition of James Maddison, who currently has the most assists in the league.
“Maddison has taken the bull by the horns and really stepped up. He is feeding everyone else to get their chances and score goals, so I think they will be around it,” Lansbury added.
Tottenham clearly look a better all-round side now than they were last season. Whether they’d be in as good a position with this side plus Kane is another question – as Lansbury is right that things aren’t all going through him as last season.
With the service of Maddison, and other players playing at the level they are now, they’d surely be in a similar position, but that doesn’t matter, as they’re doing very well without Kane, and look very threatening at the moment.
