Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino believes the Premier League single-season scoring record of 34 goals is under threat from Harry Kane after the striker grabbed two more in a 4-0 victory over Everton at Wembley.
Kane made it 10 goals in his last six games in all competitions to become Tottenhamâs record scorer in the Premier League and, after Saturdayâs match, the England forwardâs top-flight tally for the season stands at 20 with 15 league games still to play.
âHarry is fantastic and I congratulate him one more time,â said Pochettino after Kane equalled and then surpassed Teddy Sheringhamâs previous record of 97 Premier League goals for the north London club.
âHe can do anything because of his mentality and how professional he is.
âHe can achieve all that he wants because of his willingness to work. Heâs always thinking and trying to improve, improve, improve and score goals.â
Pochettino added: âWhat is really important to explain to everyone is that although he scores lots of goals, his mentality is always to work for the team and that is what makes him such a special player. In his mind, he always tries to help and play for the team.â
Victory left Spurs level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool, who face runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City on Sunday, in a competitive race for a place in next seasonâs Champions League.
âThat is our challenge and our target, to reach the Champions League, but we know that it is difficult to play at this type of level for a long period,â Pochettino added.
The manager was also full of praise for Son Heung-Min, who scored Tottenhamâs opening goal, hit the post and helped to set up one of Kaneâs goals as well as that of Christian Eriksen.
The South Korea star was just happy to have a full-time role this season, saying: âI love playing now. I want to keep going scoring but we all played well today, not just me.
âItâs impossible to beat Harry. Heâs one of the best strikers and one of the best players. He works so hard for the team. Heâs younger than me but Iâm learning from him.â
âSHOCKINGâ EVERTON
While Spurs maintained their recent surge in form, Everton slumped to their heaviest defeat under new manager Sam Allardyce.
âWeâve seen the inconsistent Everton today,â said Allardyce. âLast week we were very unlucky to get beaten at Liverpool in the last five minutes and this week we got thrashed in the second half.
âObviously itâs something I have to address now. I didnât expect to see it. Iâve seen it and now I have to address it as quickly as possible.
âIt was a shocking second-half performance. I saw some of the good sides of the players last week and I saw some of their worst sides in the second half today, which is massively worrying in terms.
âI canât excuse our capitulation after we went 2-0 down⊠West Brom becomes a massive game next week so that we donât get dragged back into that relegation zone.
âAfter having a wonderful start, we are back on dangerous ground with our results and itâs our responsibility to get results, not wait to see if other teams have lost.â
Allardyce added: âIt was a very difficult day for (new signing) Cenk Tosun on his debut today, a very difficult day for us all in the end.
âBut if we can get him a better service that he likes and get him holding the ball up, hopefully heâll do for us what heâs done for Besiktas in their league and in the Champions League.â
Provided by AFP Sport