Kane and Son: Discussing Those Incredible Numbers So Far This Season

There is often a lot of talk about Jose Mourinho’s ability to do great things in his second season in charge at a club. In year two, he won league titles with every club he has managed since 2002 until the record came to a halt when at Manchester United. He did manage to take the Red Devils to second in the Premier League, which he hailed as his greatest achievement. We all laughed at him at the time. But the more we see of Unites since then, the more we are inclined to believe him.

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Anyhow, here we are, five games into Mourinho’s second season at Tottenham Hotspur, and it’s, well – it’s fun. This is a swashbuckling Spurs team that has outscored every team in the Premier League. Yes, putting six past Manchester United will help your goal tally, but Spurs also put five past Southampton and seven past Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League Qualifier.

In the thick of things come Spurs’ frontmen Harry Kane and Heung Min-Son. The England striker has scored five in the league this season and laid on seven assists, whereas Son has banged in seven goals and provided two assists. Those are phenomenal numbers from just five games in the league so far.

Kane has become a creator

The pair have also scored 44 goals in all competitions for Tottenham in 2020, with Son grabbing 25 of those. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the duo is Kane’s role as provider. He is supposed to be a greedy striker – and Spurs fans will be glad that he remains so – but he is also allowed to use his underrated passing abilities to brilliant effect. Football365 cited his new role as a No.9-No.10 hybrid, and that’s about as perfect a description as we can find.

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From being a team tipped to struggle this season (most rational people don’t believe in second season magical powers, just coincidences), Spurs are now 12/1 third-favourites with 888sport football betting to win the Premier League. For perspective, they were around 50/1 at the start of the season. 

Spurs unlucky to drop points

Now, at the time of writing, Spurs are seventh in the league, so this sudden shift up the betting markets is more to do with performances than a ruthless side racking up the points. The capitulation against West Ham when leading 3-0, and the injustice (we agree with Mourinho here) with the late penalty against Newcastle, have taken the shine off things, but Spurs are arguably playing the best football of anybody in the Premier League, perhaps even Europe – they have really been that good.

But most of it is funnelled through those two frontmen, who are developing an understanding on the level of Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand. It remains to be seen whether Spurs can be found out as a ‘two-man team’ as the season progresses, but there isn’t much reason to believe that will be the case. Mourinho still has other attacking options, and there is also the wildcard of Gareth Bale.

Still, if it is possible to enjoy a Mourinho team objectively, Spurs are worth watching this season for the scintillating form of their two star attackers. And, if they keep going at this rate, we might be hearing a lot more about Mourinho’s second season witchcraft once more.