New Telegraph

Man United vs Tottenham: Lethargic Red Devils look to curtail rampaging Kane, Son

The showing by the backline of Manchester United against the rivals Manchester City last Sunday was despicable, to say the least, and it will be unthinkable to see coach Ralf Ragnick call on the same set of players to face arguably the most lethal attack line in the history of the EPL when his side welcome Tottenham on Saturday (today).

The Red Devils were torn apart by their city rivals so much so that the 4-1 demolition looked like it didn’t completely reflect the domination of Pep Guardiola’s men. And, it is hard to think of how Harry Maguire-led backline will curtail the rampaging attack duo of Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min.

They may not have the flamboyance of Didier Drogba/Frank Lampard, Robbie Fowler/Steve Macmanaman, or Michael Newell/ Allan Shearer but statistics have shown Kane and Son are the most prolific attack partnership in the history of the Premier League.

Their fourth goal in the demolition of Leeds United penultimate Saturday meant they have scored 37 goals in which they assisted one another. No pair has combined for more goals since the inception of the competition, with Drogba and Lampard now consigned to second place with 36. Spurs have acutely underachieved in recent years but Kane and Son have continued to write their own story amid the inconsistencies that have plagued their side.

There have been managerial upheavals at the club since coach Mauricio Pochetino’s exit two seasons ago but despite the variety of the philosophies of successive coaches, the two players have guarded their telepathic relationship on the pitch jealously. After starting the season on a dour note following the controversies that trailed Man City’s attempt to price away Kane and the refusal of Tottenham’s hierarchy to allow him go, the duo has regained their mojo. The evolution of the union has taken place a long time ago and the management of Spurs could be praised for managing to keep suck talents for eight years despite not winning trophies.

“We’ve been playing now for a long time, about seven or eight years I think,” said Kane who surpassed Arsenal legend Thierry Henry in the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts with his 175th and 176th strikes in the competition in their 5-0 win against Everton on Monday. “I think we just complement each other ’s game really well especially when I like to drop deep and obviously Son has got great pace and skills. He’s making the runs in behind and I feel like it’s evolved especially over the last two or three years. We’ve really started to gel more and more. I think you’ve seen that on the pitch.”

Read Previous

Bamise murder: Court remands BRT driver for 30days

Read Next

Ukraine: Sorry Zelenskyy, you’re on your own!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *