Kane’s Record-breaking Bayern Start put into Perspective

Another Harry Kane show vindicates Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern masterplan
Another Harry Kane show vindicates Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern masterplan

It’s fair to say that Harry Kane’s record-breaking start to life at Bayern Munich has been seriously impressive.

Kane’s transfer to the Bundesliga was the biggest story of the Summer 2023 transfer window and it was a saga that ran throughout it. A 100 million Euro transfer fee for a 30-year-old player may have seemed expensive, but this has proven to be worth every penny for the Bavarians.

The Englishman’s goalscoring record this season has been nothing short of sensational and there are definitely parallels that can be drawn between Kane in Germany and Erling Haaland’s start at Manchester City last season.

We’re going to delve into the numbers and put into perspective just how good Kane has been and where he and his team can end up by the end of the season.

Kane’s Record-breaking Bayern Start put into Perspective

After the departure of Robert Lewandowski at the end of the 2021-22 season, Bayern have been looking for an elite-level striker. The lack of a true focal point almost cost FC Hollywood last season, as they were lucky to retain their Bundesliga crown.

Quarter-final exits in both the UEFA Champions League and DFB Pokal meant the German top division title was the only major silverware that Bayern won last campaign. That quarter-final exit in Europe also illustrated how far FCB were off Man City in terms of quality.

Bayern want to be the top dogs in Europe again, so it only makes sense for the German giants to try everything to sign Kane. Kane is not only a great goalscorer, but he also has fantastic link-up play in his locker to set up his teammates.

He’s the complete forward in every sense of the word and was dragging a poor Tottenham Hotspur side to be in contention to win trophies. Of course, they famously failed to win any, but without Kane Spurs would’ve been firmly in the Premier League’s midfield melee.

Record-breaking goalscorer

On the surface, 18 goals in 12 games is seriously impressive by anybody’s standards. Before Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi raised the bar for greatness in football, a goal every other game was considered a very good strike rate for a forward. Even by their standards though, a goal per game is considered successful.

1.5 goals per game is ridiculous, though. Kane’s hat-trick against Bochum in September already saw him break a Bundesliga record, as he became the first player to score six goals in five matches at the start of their career in the German top flight.

If Kane continues this rate of scoring, he’ll have 51 goals by the end of the 34-game Bundesliga season. It’s doubtful he’ll manage that, especially as fatigue and injuries set into the squad as the Spring comes, but having almost 20 goals in the league before December really sets Kane up for at minimum a 35-40 goal season.

For comparison, Gerd Muller’s greatest ever season saw him score 40, with Lewandowski’s best record standing at 41. That’s all before we even mention the Champions League either, where he’s already struck four times to help Bayern to win all their opening five matches.

Muller’s best ever record after 12 matches is also 17 goals, one shy of Kane, so the Englishman is well on course to set an all-time record in his first season in red.

How impressive is this?

There are some football “fans” out there that claim to believe that the Bundesliga is a “farmer’s league”, an opinion that I shouldn’t have to explain how ridiculous that is.

In the Champions League Group Stage this season, for example, Borussia Dortmund have done the double over Newcastle United and Bayern will probably do the double over Manchester United as well. the Bundesliga is also ranked fourth in UEFA’s competition coefficient ranking and was third last season.

RB Leipzig have also given Man City games in both of their fixtures too, in what were far from foregone conclusions. It is not a poor league by anybody’s standards but Kane is proving to be lethal up top for the champions.

Kane scored 30 goals last season for Tottenham as they finished a dismal eighth, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s hit the ground running so well in Munich. He’s now able to sit further up the pitch and feed off the support from the likes of Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Muller.

Kane’s also had an excellent year for the England National team, with nine goals in as many appearances for the Three Lions in 2023.

And where is Euro 2024 being held? Germany. It’s fair to say that Kane will be very accustomed to scoring at these stadiums when Summer 2024 rolls around.

There’s no doubt that the Hurricane will keep raging in Germany and there’s a real chance that he could help his new side to a league and Champions League double this campaign.

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Headline: Ten Hag Laments Manchester United's Defensive Lapses in 3-3 Europa League Draw Against FC Porto Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag criticised his players for "switching off" during their 3-3 draw against FC Porto in the Europa League on Thursday. Despite taking a 2-0 lead within the first 20 minutes at Estadio do Dragao, United conceded twice in seven minutes to go into half-time level, before falling behind early in the second half. In a post-match news conference, Ten Hag expressed his mixed feelings about the result, saying, "We scored two great goals and then we switched off. We don't keep possession and defending, we're switching off. We concede the first goal totally unnecessary and then you light up the fire in this stadium and it becomes very tough." The Dutch manager revealed that he addressed the issues at half-time, but was disappointed with his team's defending for the third goal. "We addressed it at half-time and then you concede a third one, so unnecessary. It's no good defending again. That's also to do with some willingness in some moments," he said. Ten Hag also had to defend his decision to substitute Marcus Rashford at half-time, despite the forward scoring United's opening goal and looking sharp throughout the first half. Initially, the manager stated that the substitution was made to keep Rashford fresh for the upcoming match against Aston Villa on Sunday. However, he later hinted that the change was made because both of Porto's first-half goals had come from crosses on Rashford's side of the pitch. "Garnacho was my best player on Sunday by far and also in many other games," Ten Hag explained. "I think in the season as I assess it so far, he is bringing us so far the offensive threat by creating chances, assists, also scoring. Garnacho, we also had to play him as well and we have two very good players over that side." He added, "I have to watch [the game] back and I think over the left side definitely we didn't defend well tonight and Marcus also played a part in this. But, as I say, it had to do with Garnacho and nothing against Rashy." Despite the disappointing result, United managed to salvage a point thanks to a stoppage-time equaliser from substitute Harry Maguire. The draw leaves Manchester United with work to do in their quest to progress in the Europa League.

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