Harry Kane is embracing a new all-round role for Bayern Munich
Harry Kane is transitioning into a different role as Bayern Munich’s creator-in-chief as well as being the Bundesliga’s top scorer.
Harry Kane’s numbers do enough to highlight his brilliance. Indeed, the 32-year-old has scored 24 goals for club and country this season, a tally that is bettered only by Erling Haaland in Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues. And yet this still doesn’t fully quantify Kane’s growing importance to Bayern Munich.
Kane’s performance in Saturday’s Der Klassiker was a showcase of everything he offers. Not only did the Englishman score the opening goal of the game from a corner kick, sending Bayern Munich on their way to a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund, he orchestrated the Bavarians’ second goal, and their attacking display as a whole.
Deployed as a number 10 behind Nicolas Jackson, Kane took it upon himself to be Bayern Munich’s quarter-back. It’s a role he has embraced in other matches this season, but Vincent Kompany fully leaned into Kane as his primary playmaker against Dortmund, allowing the Englishman to drift wherever he could find space.
The highlight of Kane’s performance was the cross-field pass that led to Bayern Munich’s second goal. He wasn’t even looking in the direction of Luis Díaz when he angled a 40-yard ball out to the Colombian winger from inside his own half, opening up the space for Díaz to get into the final third.
This wasn’t the only Tom Brady-esque pass played by Kane in the game. Only Manuel Neuer and Joshua Kimmich completed more long balls than the 32-year-old with Díaz, Jackson and Michael Olise all benefiting from the natural creativity of their English teammate.
Of course, Tottenham Hotspur fans grew accustomed to Kane playing in a similar way for them. Over time, Kane became a one-man attacking hub for the North London side, frequently dropping deep to pick up the ball and move Spurs forward, either through carrying possession or finding space with a long pass.
Kane’s all-round game has been apparent for some time, but until this season Kompany hadn’t afforded the freedom to make full use of it for Bayern Munich. In fact, Kane faced some criticism last season for not playing a larger role in the Bavarians’ overall possession play. While still putting up numbers, he was a peripheral figure in a lot of matches.
This season, though, Kompany has built around Kane as someone who can offer a lot more than just goals. No Bayern Munich player has created more Big Chances than Kane (five) this season with only Olise and Kimmich ahead of the forward in Expected Assists (xA). He’s a playmaker as much as he’s a finisher.
“Harry Kane can of course still improve, even though he has been more than brilliant so far for us,” said Kompany after the win in Der Klassiker. “I think Messi and Ronaldo have set the bar so high that you feel like scoring in the manner Kane is scoring right now should be normal, but what he is doing is really outstanding. He worked so hard for the team tonight and was once again very important for us.”
Despite playing in the Club World Cup, the summer break appears to have revitalised Kane. He is covering more ground and playing with greater intensity. This might fade as the season progresses, and next summer’s World Cup starts to come into view, but on current form Kane might be the best player in the world.
Haaland is putting up serious numbers having notched an incredible 20 goals in his last 10 games for Manchester City and Norway, but he isn’t conducting play like Kane is for Bayern Munich right now. The same could be said about Kylian Mbappé. The Frenchman is on fire in front of goal, but isn’t an all-round threat in the way Kane is.
Bayern Munich look to have taken a step forward this season. Díaz has given them greater energy in the forward line with the Colombian registering nine goal contributions in just seven Bundesliga games. Olise also looks to have improved further, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
In central midfield, Bayern haven’t been so open in defensive transition while the summer addition of Jonathan Tah has steadied things at the back. Kompany is building more on top of the foundations he put in place last season and the Bavarians look stronger for it. They could be Champions League contenders.
Some eyebrows were raised when Bayern Munich paid £86m for a 30-year-old Kane. Many saw the signing as a short-term measure with the Englishman entering the twilight of his career. For that money, though, the Bavarians landed an attacking focal point who can do it all. The current version of Kane is the best there has ever been.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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