Jose Mourinho hailed Harry Kane and said the Tottenham star was at his best when the puzzle around him is perfect .
Kane provided his ninth assist of the Premier League season – to go with seven goals – during Spurs 2-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday.
The forward had just eight assists in his previous three league campaigns combined (94 games), but set up Giovani Lo Celso s goal, which doubled Tottenham s lead following Son Heung-min s opener.
Mourinho lauded Kane, who helped Spurs win back-to-back league games against City for the first time since a run of three between September 2015 and October 2016.
He s a fantastic player. When the puzzle around him is perfect for him he s a fantastic player, the Spurs head coach told a news conference.
Maybe he will be responsible for you and fans and people that love football, maybe he will change the way people look to a striker.
He is fantastic and he very much represents the spirit of the team.
9 Harry Kane has provided nine assists in his nine Premier League games this season, more than any other player in the division. Kane had provided just eight assists in his previous three league campaigns combined (94 games). Evolution.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Tottenham ended a day top of the Premier League table for the first time since August 2014.
But Mourinho was unfazed as he tried to keep Spurs focused, with Leicester City able to return to the top if they beat Liverpool on Sunday.
I prefer to be top of the league than second, third or fourth, but it s not an obsession. It s not a problem for me if Leicester wins and goes top of the league. It s not a problem at all, he said.
I just want to win my game which is what we keep saying since the beginning of the season. We want to win the next match. I don t care about the table, I don t care about the opponents, about the competition. I want to win the next match and go to every game with the players believing and organised in a way that we can beat that opponent.
We are a process. This team is a process in place. Good signs of evolution at every level. We are very happy with that of course but I don t care too much about the table. It s just a good feeling to go home and obviously be top of the league is a good feeling.
