Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has admitted that he was disappointed that Harry Kane couldn’t add to his goal tally in the win over West Ham.
The Italian tactician has exceptionally high standards and made it clear he felt that Kane could have done better with some of the chances he had against the Hammers, despite putting in a superb performance to help the team to victory in this important London Derby.
Conte praised the way Kane can operate so effectively as both a number 9 and a number 10, but couldn’t help but admit that he felt it was a pity that the England international didn’t finish the game with more goals to his name as he continues to chase the Premier League scoring record…
“He is brilliant in both phases, when he has to score and also when he makes an assist,” Conte said.
“He is two players in one because he can be a number 10 or he can be a number nine and it doesn’t change. It was a pity because today he deserved to score another goal and he had the chances to score his goals and improve his record and to give us more calm to finish the game before. Instead we waited to score the third goal only 10 minutes from the end.
“I think if I have to find a situation we can improve, it is to try to kill the game early also because otherwise a corner, a set piece, West Ham could draw a game that I think we dominated today. We played a really good game and as a coach I enjoyed to watch my team play this football today.”
It’s precisely this kind of management that Conte seems to use so well to get hiss players to raise their game, so fans will hope it can have the same effect on Kane in the near future.