“To score and win just makes it that little bit sweeter,” Kane, who struck Tottenham’s first goal after 40 minutes with Dele Alli adding a second less than three minutes later, said. In the calendar year, it means the 22-year-old has reached 30 goals for club and country.
“It’s a nice round number but it doesn’t stop here,” Kane said. “It’s been a fantastic year, I’ve loved every minute of it. But it doesn’t stop me working hard, I’m looking to next year now to be even better.”
Harry Kane beats Southampton's Virgil Van Dijk (left) to score Tottenham's first
Kane remains humble despite his achievements and readily acknowledges the achievements of the division’s other strikers, in particular Leicester’s Jamie Vardy.
“Jamie has been doing great, full credit to him. All the other strikers have been trying to keep up with him. He has set the standard high for us. I’m slowly sneaking up the goal tally.”
The result on Saturday means Spurs have lost just one game in 15 with the home defeat to Newcastle the only blot on their copy book this season. “Newcastle was probably the kick up the butt we needed,” Kane said. “Maybe we were getting a bit complacent.”
Mauricio Pochettino will be keen to guard against that with Spurs back in the Champions League places but admitted he was very proud of boasting the youngest squad in the division. He praised his “fantastic” and “brave” young players and admitted he has “special plans” to look after them over the Christmas period.
Kane takes the lead
Two of his team’s most prominent young players, Kane and Alli, scored the goals which lifted Spurs into the top four after victory at Southampton on Saturday and the Argentine is proud that the club boasts the league’s youngest squad. “It’s not about names, it’s about performance. The young deserve to play,” the former Saints manager said. “It is true that we believe and give them the facilities if they deserve to play. We need to be careful when they are younger.”
There were few signs of fatigue during the second half at St Mary’s when Spurs comfortably protected their two-goal first-half lead with their characteristic pressing and high-tempo passing, but Pochettino is planning to tailor his approach to training ahead of three games in nine days. “We have special plans for everyone,” he said. “In the way that we work with all the staff we try to carry them with individual plans for young and older players because every player needs different things.”
Probably the best: Dele Alli celebrates his goal
Southampton certainly need something different. An alarming run of form has left Ronald Koeman both angry and worried, feelings shared by the midfielder Victor Wanyama who has again been linked with Arsenal in recent weeks. “I don’t know what’s going on,” the Kenyan said.
“We let them score from nothing and it was unacceptable. At the moment it’s not working for us. We’ve had a lot of changes. The team needs to gel more.”
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