Vincent Janssen Hands Tottenham the Scope to Make Harry Kane Even More Potent

Harry Kane will be forgiven if he feels like an only child who has had his nice family life interrupted by the arrival of a new sibling.

The transfer stork has delivered a new brother-in-arms for the Tottenham Hotspur attack—Vincent Janssen from AZ Alkmaar. For the first time in well over a year, Kane may not be the main focus of planning, and his existence is now tied up with someone else.

Scott Barbour/Getty Images

OK, this is a bit of an exaggeration. Tottenham also made use of Nacer Chadli, Clinton Njie and Heung-Min Son up front at various points in 2015-16, while a season earlier Kane was also partnered with Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado.

But it is testament to the 23-year-old's supreme form during this period that Spurs have largely got by just using him as a lone striker.

Chadli, Njie and Son were manager Mauricio Pochettino's concessions to giving Kane a rest, with only the South Korean posing strong arguments as a legitimate alternative ready to not just make up the numbers (albeit with some more concentrated work required).

Even then the England international was brought on in games like the Europa League and FA Cup wins over FK Qarabag and Leicester City, respectively, just to make sure the team saw the contests out.

Soldado and Adebayor were paired with Kane during 2014-15. The Spaniard initially did decent work alongside his young partner—the defeats of Everton and Hull City stand out—but after the turn of the year, his presence felt more of a hindrance than help.

Since then, the basic tactic of running Spurs' attack through Kane has worked well.

Finishing year one of Pochettino's tenure with 30 goals in all competitions, he struck another 28 last time out. His 25 in the Premier League won him the Golden Boot as he spearheaded a versatile, often relentless offensive charge that took the team within reach of the title.

In Dele Alli, Kane had an energetic and well-rounded foil who essentially served the function of a strike partner with his impressive production (10 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League and Europa League, tallied by WhoScored.com) and defence-unsettling gusto, all the while continuing to do the less glamorous midfield duties further back.

It still beggars belief that Roy Hodgson did not do more to utilise the understanding between these club-mates at the summer's European Championship, diluting it instead by shoehorning in star players.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press/Associated Press

Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela led the other attacking midfielders working well with Kane, too. Either combining with him directly or reaping the benefits of things like his harrying defenders or off-ball running, their centre-forward worked hard to ensure their efforts did not go to waste.

While augmented by the likes of Chadli and Son, this quartet's general effectiveness soon saw them recognised as the first-choice men at the head of Pochettino's 4-2-3-1. Four musketeers in one of the Premier League's most swashbuckling attacks, at their best—see April's 4-0 thrashing of Stoke City—they were mesmerising.

Janssen's introduction has raised the prospect of this quartet now becoming a famous five (hopefully a more considered and less gung ho one than Ossie Ardiles' 1994-95 version featuring Darren Anderton, Nick Barmby, Ilie Dumitrescu, Jurgen Klinsmann and Teddy Sheringham), a development that would see those attacking midfielders' positioning at least tweaked to accommodate Kane's own forced adjustments to a new partner.

It is far from set as Spurs' definitive strategy. In the games since Kane returned from post-Euro 2016 rest against Inter Milan and Everton, he started in his familiar lone-striker role.

Janssen has opened up new possibilities for Pochettino tactically, but he does not have to automatically go with them either. There is logic to keeping the Dutchman as a contingency plan, a direct replacement or cover for Kane, or as fresh legs late in games.

Still, the impact Janssen had midway through those matches forming a front two with Kane, most pertinently against Everton, will have underlined in their manager's mind the advantages of an even more aggressive game plan.

"He complemented Harry and both played very well," Pochettino told Tottenham's official website after the 1-1 draw with the Toffees. "Vincent is a different type of striker and it was perfect, I was happy with his performance."

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Take "perfect" with a pinch of salt given the Argentinian's still-limited English. Nevertheless, there was a lot to like about what the new recruit brought to proceedings. However, it was not that much more productive than what the Kane-focused attack of the first half offered.

In hindsight, Ross Barkley's well-taken free-kick opener clouded what might have otherwise been regarded as an admirably patient effort trying to figure out the strong resistance from Everton's rearguard.

Last season Spurs faced what felt like two of the Merseysiders' only good defensive performances under Roberto Martinez. Toffees manager Ronald Koeman should see to it that what Spurs came up against on Saturday will be more the norm than the exception.

Kane did not have any clear chances, with Tottenham at times playing either too slow or too hurriedly in their attempts to negotiate the opposition defence. But he still performed most of the key functions of his role to positive effect.

In the 16th minute, Spurs struck the right balance in their tempo. As seen below, Kane was well positioned on the shoulder of Phil Jagielka when Alli received the ball just short of 30 yards out. Alert to it, the midfielder sent his team-mate into the right-side channel.

Wyscout

Ramiro Funes Mori gave chase and bounced right off the striker, and referee Martin Atkinson ridiculously penalised Kane who had stood his ground fairly. Had the whistle not gone, he would have been well into the penalty area with a good chance of a shot or crossing to Lamela.

Around 20 minutes later, Kane took up a similar position when Lamela advanced centrally. The latter's lofted pass toward him in the box was well read by Funes Mori, but he could still only put it behind for a corner.

We also saw Kane getting between the centre-backs to help continue a quick-passing attack coming from left to right. After exchanging passes with Eriksen, he got into the box and distracted the defenders enough to create room for the Dane to shoot when he got the ball back from Kyle Walker.

Coinciding with some Everton tiredness from their first-half work, Janssen's replacement of Eric Dier did see Tottenham begin to have more joy.

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

With the Dutchman and Kane focusing on occupying the blue back line, it allowed those deployed further back more time and scope to deviate from their more predictable pre-interval patterns.

The most significant example being Lamela's goal—Toby Alderweireld got forward to connect with Walker, Janssen lured Everton players away from the middle of the box and Kane's near-post run took Jagielka out of the equation.

Individually, Janssen's charging of wider areas did not always result in chances. But it pushed Everton back more than had previously been the case, creating the possibility of Kane benefiting if a pass or cross did come his way.

Similarly, the Netherlands international also benefited from Kane's presence. The extra bit of time for his 80th-minute shot—Danny Rose's ball toward him just getting stuck under his feet for him to sufficiently direct it past Maarten Stekelenburg—was helped by his new partner splitting the Toffees' resources at the back post.

The duo's understanding of each other's intentions and preferences is going to need some fine-tuning, though.

Shortly after the aforementioned chance, they combined well to bring down a big Alderweireld header. As seen below, Kane moved forward with grass in front and Janssen outside of Funes Mori looking like he had the run on the defender—if not quite able to get through on his own, he would have probably been able to make a swift return to Kane, who was likely ready to pounce beyond an isolated Jagielka.

Wyscout

Instead Kane already had eyes for Lamela and passed left to him further out.

The wide-man's shot was almost deflected beyond Stekelenburg, but from a comparatively difficult angle, it was asking a lot. Janssen had continued his run into the area and might have been crossed for, but it was Kane for whom his frustration was visibly reserved (see below, Lamela again just out of shot to the left).

Wyscout

He was content after, ruing only Stekelenburg's save denying him a debut goal. "It still was a fantastic moment for me to play my first minutes for this club, but it would have been even more if I could have scored one," Janssen told the Spurs website.

Through increasingly impressive pre-season performances and into this first league game, Janssen has given good indications he will prove a useful signing.

Pochettino will be encouraged and certainly not dismissive of trying something different for Spurs just because of how well his tactics worked last season. Kane, too, will surely be open to anything that will help the team and potentially improve him.

However, more field work is required to discover if a front two is better than what Tottenham are used to. Or rather, to ascertain which opponents and situations may benefit from deploying this tweaked formation. For now, Kane and the team will be better served by not abandoning what has worked so well.

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Finding a consistent balance between patience and urgency in their passing and movement is a more pressing need for the creative minds that shape the attack. It is beyond that—toiling late on against stubborn opponents, deep into the season when fatigue is kicking in or in situations where all else fails—where personnel adjustments can make a difference.

A tough end to last season and a rough summer for Kane personally do not take away his outstanding achievements of the past two years. He has developed into one of the division's most formidable centre-forwards and has earned the right for patience through quieter spells (27 of last season's 28 goals incredibly came with the best part of three months of the campaign already played).

Leading the line and carrying Tottenham's scoring burden as a lone striker as well as he has is hugely impressive. Just how special Kane is should not be forgotten just because there is a new face around.