TOTTENHAM would have been battling mid-table obscurity this season were it not for Harry Kane and his goalscoring exploits, according to Kevin Phillips.
The England international is the Premier League’s joint-top scorer alongside Chelsea’s Diego Costa with 20 goals, and took his season tally to 30 in all competitions with a late strike against Newcastle last weekend.
And Phillips, the last Englishman to net 30 times in a Premier League campaign with Sunderland back in 1999-00, believes Tottenham’s current sixth-place position would not be possible without Kane.
“I would love to see Harry go on and win it, and good luck to him – although I think it’s going to be difficult for anyone else to win the European Golden Boot when Ronaldo and Messi are around,” the 41-year-old told The Mirror.
“Now the big question is whether he can keep it up. In 1999-2000, I scored 30 goals in the Premier League and the following year I was called a failure when I scored 18, which I thought was very harsh.
“To score 18 goals a season in any major league now is a success. I don’t think Harry needs to score 20 goals next year not to be called a failure because times have changed.
“But he’s had an outstanding season, he’s been fantastic, and he’s done it the hard way – because speaking to the people at Leicester, he wasn’t a great success when he came here on loan.
“He’s been incredible, especially with the pressure at a big club like Tottenham. He’s carried them this year – without Harry’s goals, they may only have been mid-table.
“When I look at young strikers coming through, he is the future of English football. But the next Alan Shearer, as some people are talking? Let’s not get too carried away, let’s see what happens next year.”
