What happened to Harry Kane? England captain enduring worst goal-scoring run of his Bayern Munich career
What happened to Harry Kane? England captain enduring worst goal-scoring run of his Bayern Munich career
The striker has broken multiple records since moving to the Allianz Arena in 2023, but he’s now not scored from open play for 541 minutes
Bayern Munich’s 3-0 loss to Feyenoord on Wednesday was as puzzling as it was surprising. The Bavarians had enjoyed an 80 percent share of possession and taken 30 shots on goal – and yet coach Vincent Kompany felt their shock defeat was fully deserved.
Why? What did they do wrong? For the always straight-talking Joshua Kimmich, though, it was all very simple. “It’s never a good idea,” he said matter-of-factly, “to both make a lot of defensive mistakes, and not score.”
While several players were singled out for special criticism for gifting Feyenoord goals, including Raphael Guerreiro, who conceded a penalty two minutes after coming on, Harry Kane, as the focal point of the attack, rather predictably copped most of the blame for Bayern’s failings up front.
Not for the first time this season, the England international was accused by the German press of going missing when his team needed him most…
‘Too old and too expensive’?!
Kane has always had his critics. Even before he signed for Bayern in the summer of 2023 for €100 million, club legend Lothar Matthaus argued that the then-30-year-old was “too old and too expensive”. Every second since has been spent trying to prove his worth to the club – and he’s done a decent job of it so far.
Certainly, Kane’s first season couldn’t have gone much better from a purely individual perspective. The former Tottenham ace smashed Uwe Seeler’s record for most goals during a debut Bundesliga campaign by netting 36 times in just 32 appearances – while he also finished as the Champions League’s top scorer.
Bayern back on top
Unfortunately, while Kane delivered in 2023-24, the majority of those around him did not, and Bayern failed to win a single trophy for the first time in 12 years, prompting many football fans to wonder if the one of the most complete centre-forwards of his generation really is cursed.
Encouragingly for Kane, Bayern are well-placed to reclaim their Bundesliga title this term, with Kompany’s side presently four points clear of defending champions Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the table. However, the midweek defeat at De Kuip has cast doubt on not only the team’s true strength, but also their star striker’s diminishing returns – particularly in big games.
‘Least of my worries’
After the damaging Feyenoord defeat, which effectively ended Bayern’s hopes of progressing directly to the last 16 of the Champions League, sporting director Max Eberl insisted that Kane was “the least of my worries right now” – and one can understand why.
On the face of it, the No.9 is on track for another prolific season. Kane has scored 22 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions, and is averaging a strike every 86.64 minutes – across Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues, only Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski boasts a better ratio.
The issue is, though, that 10 of Kane’s goals this season have come from the penalty spot, and he’s not scored once from open play since November.
No ‘mental problem’
Eberl rightly pointed out that Kane did miss four games in all competitions in December due to injury and thus played down the significance of this two-month ‘drought’.
“If it were a young player, you might worry more, but Harry Kane has had so many highs and also some lows, so if anyone can cope and deal with it, it’s Harry Kane,” the sporting director told reporters. “Of course, we need his goals. He knows that and is probably the one who is most critical of himself. But I don’t think it’s causing a mental problem for Harry.”
It is, however, starting to become a cause for concern.
Sceptics growing
Former Bayern midfielder Didi Hamann has, like many England fans, been extremely perturbed by the quality of Kane’s performances since Euro 2024.
“I said after the European Championship in the summer that he still has to prove that he is worth €100 million – even though he scored over 30 goals last year,” the ex-Germany international wrote in his column for Sky Sports Germany after Kane’s abject display in the 1-0 Champions League loss to Aston Villa in October.
“Because he wasn’t brought in to score a hat-trick against Darmstadt. He was brought in to score against the likes of Leverkusen and Aston Villa, and to score in the knockout stage of the Champions League. He hasn’t done that yet. So, I remain sceptical about the star striker.”
‘I’ll score again!’
In fairness to Kane, he did score against Barcelona earlier this season, while he also hit a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Stuttgart. However, there have been blanks against not only Feyenoord, Leverkusen and Villa, but also Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica.
Kompany, though, insists he isn’t concerned by Kane’s apparent struggles against supposedly stronger sides. “I don’t waste any time thinking about whether he scored or not,” the former Belgium and Manchester City defender said. “I know what qualities he has.”
Kane hasn’t lost any faith in his own ability either. Even after his poor performance in Rotterdam, he declared: “For me it’s always about being in the right position. In the last few games I didn’t have that many chances and had to rely on the penalty for my goals. But the important thing is that we play well and the boys create chances for me. I just have to keep going like I have been and then I’ll score again!”
It certainly wouldn’t be a shock to see Kane break his open-play duck against either Freiburg on Saturday, or Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League on Wednesday. What’s imperative, though, is that their No.9 steps up the games that really matter. Bayern’s trophy hopes – and breaking ‘the Harry Kane’ curse – will likely depend upon it.
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