Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has claimed that he holds Antonio Conte in such high regard given the impact he has had on his physical and mental conditioning.
Kane was seen to be involved in some energy-sapping sessions under Conte during pre-season training, which caused him to throw up and collapse on the pitch due to tiredness (The Sun). That being said, the striker looked very sharp in his first friendly match against Team K-League as he scored a brace to help his side to a 6-3 scoreline and followed up his performance with another goal in the 1-1 draw against Sevilla yesterday.
The England international has been in impressive form since the Italian took charge in Novemver, having scored 20 goals alongside nine assists from 36 matches across all competitions last season (Transfermarkt). Conte was also able to get Kane out of his poor run of form that plagued the centre-forward following his failed transfer to Manchester City last summer (Sky Sports).
Kane has thanked his 52-year-old manager for helping him reach a physique he has never attained under his previous coaches. The forward also gave a detailed insight into Conte’s training sessions and how that has impacted him on a personal level.
Speaking to Football.London, Kane said: “Antonio has been fantastic. I’ve learned from every manager I’ve worked under. Antonio has probably taken fitness levels to another level for me. The mentality, being with him every day seeing the way he prepares, the way he brings his passion and brings the best out of the lads, I’ve learnt from that.”
“I feel like I’m learning every year anyway and getting more experience and getting better, but with someone like Antonio it’s speeding up that process even quicker. I feel in good shape. There’s still work to do in the next month in this pre-season. I feel like I’ve still got a lot more to give and hopefully I can show that next year.”
He added: “I think he’s just brought a real intensity to training every day. Every manager has different processes, different way of training, different types of a week schedule. Antonio likes to work, he likes to be out on the training on the pitch for however long he wants to and make sure we’re well prepared going into each game.
“I just feel like that I’m at that stage in my career where I want to keep pushing and keep improving. It was good to see how my fitness levels changed over that period when he first came in. It just made me want to continue that and do as much as possible as to keep improving.”
Our View
Conte’s demanding sessions have always been a key part of his success in his previous tenures as he helped the likes of Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan to glory. That could be the foundation to achieving similar heights at Tottenham as well, and getting Kane up to his best physical levels would go a long way in giving them the best chances of doing so.
The 28-year-old attacker has developed his game to become a well-rounded player in recent years, which has seen his creative and playmaking abilities reach a peak it has never reached before.
While Kane achieved this stage under Jose Mourinho, Conte has helped him to have a better understanding of when to drop deep and become a creator and when to be a presence in the box by being a centre-forward.
Now, with a significant physical improvement, one would expect Kane to do more wonders and perhaps find new heights that we have not seen so far. That would be of great benefit as the north Londoners look to end the title drought that has plagued them for quite a long-time under a world-class coach like Conte.
And getting Kane to be peak physique would enhance their chances of finding glory, especially when the season up ahead would be filled with congested schedules with the 2022 Qatar World Cup taking place during the campaign.
