After the World Cup, can Kane achieve more with Tottenham

The weight of wearing the captain’s armband for England has been tough to bear in the past, but Harry Kane accepted the responsibility for the 2018 tournament in Russia and was the competition’s top scorer on his way to helping his country match their best finish since 1990.

Now the 25-year-old hopes to translate his goal scoring prowess on the world stage into success in the Premier League with his Tottenham side and he’s already champing at the bit to get back to action.

"I'll hopefully be back for the first game and hopefully I can try and score in August this year," said Kane. “Not many people get to say they've won a golden boot in a World Cup, it's a big achievement.”

Kane found the net six times in Russia, including three against Panama, making him the first Englishman to record a World Cup hat trick since Gary Lineker in 1986.

Lineker is also the last player to bring home the Golden Boot for England.

While Hugo Lloris remains the Tottenham captain, England manager Gareth Southgate never doubted the leadership qualities of Kane when he opted to name him the skipper of the young and talented squad.

"He has the respect of the entire group," said Southgate at the conclusion of the World Cup. "I think his mindset of what's possible and what's achievable, as he's shown with his own game, filters through to the other players.  We always have to have that mentality of wanting to work all the time to get better and he has that mindset in abundance." 

For Kane, carrying that World Cup momentum into the new season would really be a continuation of the growth he’s shown over the past three seasons. Last season he scored 30 times for Tottenham, good enough for second in the league behind only Mohamed Salah of Liverpool.  The previous two campaigns he set the goal scoring standard with 29 markers in 2016/17 and 25 in 2015/16.

Despite being listed among the favourites in the past three seasons, Tottenham has yet to break through and capture the Premier League. They have been good enough to qualify for the Champions League, but short of their goal of a domestic trophy.  

This year they enter the fray fifth-favourite among most betting sites and will need Kane at his best if they are going to finally earn their first Premier League title.
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With all of the goals he’s scored since becoming a full-time player at Everton and eventually making a move to Manchester United, it’s hard to believe that Romelu Lukaku still has to prove that he can perform on the big stage.

Yet, in the midst of a World Cup campaign that saw him score four goals, good enough to tie for second-most in the tournament, the Belgian forward penned an article for the Players’ Tribune about the lack of support and respect he receives.

Lukaku helped lead his Belgium side to a third-place finish in Russia, their best ever at a World Cup, and will now try to translate that into another strong season at Manchester United.

Last season, the 25-year-old’s first with the Manchester club, saw him score 16 goals in 34 games, pacing them to a second-place finish as well as an appearance in the FA Cup final.

Before making the transfer, Lukaku posted 25 and 18 goal seasons in his last two years with Everton.

Manchester United is no stranger to success in the Premier League and Lukaku could be poised to carry them back to the top of the league.
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Heading into the World Cup, Everton ‘keeper Jordan Pickford may not have been a household name, but his play for England, especially in the penalty shootout victory over Colombia, has vaulted the 24-year-old into the spotlight.

Now Pickford wants to help thrust his Premier League team into the upper echelon. 

'We want to do better. We finished eighth last season and so we want to get better than seventh, get into the top six,” said Pickford.  “The Premier League is a hard league and it is hard to get a win in any game, but we want to please the fans and make the fans happy and the way to do that is win games.”

Pickford’s profile has elevated to the point that there are rumours Chelsea is trying to pry him away from Merseyside before the end of the transfer window.

The outside interest could lead Pickford to an improved deal from Everton, a club he joined last summer from Sunderland.

Either way, strong play in Russia has made Pickford one of the players to watch in the 2018/19 Premier League season.