Harry Kane.

Solskjaer shows respect for dangerous Kane

Friday 09 April 2021 13:30

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a great deal of respect for Harry Kane and the Manchester United manager admits his defenders must be wary of the Tottenham Hotspur talisman on Sunday afternoon.

Spurs captain Kane is currently the leading scorer in this season's Premier League with 19 goals to his name, one ahead of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and three in front of United's Bruno Fernandes. 

Kane also has more assists (13) than any other top-flight player, with his closest competition coming from our aforementioned Portuguese magnifico and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne (both 11).

While Tottenham clearly have other dangerous players who we must prepare for, including Son Heung-min and Gareth Bale, it is clear that Kane is their galvanising force up front. 
Tottenham v United: Watch Ole's press conference Video

Tottenham v United: Watch Ole's press conference

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Asked if he will talk to his players about Kane’s form, Ole said: “Yeah, of course. When you play against one of the best centre-forwards in European football, it is something that we prepare for. I think every team, when they play Tottenham or England, you know Harry Kane’s qualities. 

“But we prepare the defenders for every single opposition and opponent. You know the season that Son and Kane have had, the relationship they’ve had. Of course, that’s one of Tottenham’s strengths and they’ve got other quality players as well that we have to be aware of.”
Sunday’s trip to Tottenham provides United with an opportunity to consolidate our position in second place and maintain some pressure on leaders Manchester City. But it also offers a chance to put right the wrongs of our previous meeting this campaign, when Spurs won 6-1 at Old Trafford after Anthony Martial was sent off.

“I think the players will remember that game with a lot of pain and their pride has been hurt,” added Solskjaer. “Our professional pride has been hurt, the manner we lost is not ourselves and worthy of our team and we know that.

“We gave ourselves a difficult game by having 10 men. Pre-season was short and we weren’t up to the standard required, but we were so poor and I’m pretty, pretty sure we’ll see some players wanting to prove that we’re better than that [on Sunday].”
Highlights: United v Spurs Video

Highlights: United v Spurs

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Asked what improvements we have made since that chastening defeat, Ole concluded: “Well, the biggest thing that we’ve improved on is our fitness levels, because we were way short of what they were at. It was our third game, was it? Third game and we didn’t look anything like us. 

“And we got conned into a red card and that’s something that we have to be aware of, that we can’t react like this, because we know that in games, there’ll be situations that you’ll be wound up and we’ve learnt a lot from that. And I’m sure we’ll have a better performance this time round.”

Tottenham v United kicks off at 16:30 BST on Sunday.

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