Football pundit Paul Merson has been discussing Tottenham Hotspur’s chances in the upcoming season and predicted the club would struggle to finish in the top half without Harry Kane.
Last season was nothing short of a disaster for Tottenham. The North London side’s inconsistent form throughout the 2022/23 campaign left them with an eighth-placed finish, thus failing to qualify for European competition for the first time in over a decade.
The one shining light from last season was Harry Kane. The England captain was on fire for Tottenham, despite the poor form of those around him, and he ended the campaign with an incredible 30 goals in the Premier League (Transfermarkt).
This time around, Spurs have a new manager, and Ange Postecoglou has already managed to imbue the fan base with a fresh sense of optimism ahead of the upcoming campaign.
(Photo by Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images)
However, with Bayern Munich continuing their pursuit of Tottenham’s star man (The Athletic), it remains to be seen whether Kane will still be at the club for the new season.
If Kane were to leave Spurs this summer, the impact could be catastrophic for the Lilywhites. That’s according to Paul Merson, who told Sky Sports that Tottenham would be a bottom-half team without their talismanic striker.
He said: “Kane scored 30 goals last season and Spurs finished nowhere near. You feel sorry for Ange Postecoglou, but you’re talking about a team who might, might, get in the top four if he stays, to a team who doesn’t get in the top half if he leaves.
“They wont even get in the top half! They’re 100 per cent a bottom-half team if he leaves. Who is going to get the goals? They finished eighth last season. I like James Maddison, he’s a good player. But Leicester got relegated.”
Our View
Losing Harry Kane’s goals would obviously be a huge blow to Spurs, but there is a part of me that wonders whether we might operate just fine without him. If we get a decent striker in to replace Kane, and implement a system that doesn’t rely on one player to score goals, we would still finish in the top ten.
