Over the last five or six years, man-to-man pressure has become bigger,” Kane says. “European football is physical and top teams are trying to win the ball back high, trusting their defenders and midfielders to defend man for man to win their battles.”
Tactical Shift Drives Demand for Physical Athletes and Elite Dribblers
Given that change, the best teams have recruited physical athletes and brilliant dribblers who can beat their man when the game becomes a series of one-against-ones. Kane, not known for his dribbling — and by his own admission “not the fastest” — has thrived on his own terms.
Cerebral Dribbling Unlocks Space Against Dortmund
Against Dortmund, there was a specific moment Kane dropped deep, looking to arrive in space unmarked. Recognising the danger, two players converged on the Englishman. Kane’s dribbling is cerebral; his speed of thought provides him solutions to problems others would attempt to solve with their feet alone.
After getting low and using his strength to shrug centre-back Waldemar Anton off him, Kane rose, slightly adjusting his body to the right. These micro-adjustments are a hallmark of his game and through them he is able to shift an entire team’s momentum. Fooled by this feint, Daniel Svensson and Jobe Bellingham found themselves wrong-footed as Kane snapped the ball back the other way, opening up the entire pitch from within Bayern’s half.
