Earlier this year Harry Kane spoke about how he somehow managed to be constantly criticised even as he approached the extraordinary landmark of 400 career goals. “It’s like when Ronaldo and Messi were throwing these crazy numbers out there and the next season they’d score 40 goals instead of 50 and it was like they were having a bad season,” he said. “People take it for granted and maybe a little bit with England as well … people just expect it so it’s not spoken about so much. Maybe people just get a little bit bored of what you do.”
For each of the past 11 seasons Kane has played at least 30 games and scored at least 20 goals, and perhaps this is how players are punished for consistency of performance and fitness. Because the opposite is also true: when players appear only rarely, when they play at a level that is seldom seen, well, that simply demands to be relished. Nothing is more cherished than the ephemeral. Nobody wishes on a static star.
