Harry Kane: Why Tottenham Star Struggles at Taking Free Kicks

• Pundits have come up with a theory on why Harry Kane struggles at free kicks
• The England star, despite being a prolific goal scorer, is ineffective at dead balls
• He has scored just one free kick in more than 50 attempts - a 1.78% success rate

Harry Kane, for all his goal scoring prowess, seems to have one major weakness in his game - the ability to take free kicks.

When you look at top marksmen in football like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, all these players have one thing in common: they score all types of goals and are equally dangerous from set pieces.

Not Harry Kane though, as the 29-year-old somehow has a torrid record at free kicks, having scored just once in 56 attempts.

Despite making more than 300 Premier League appearances, Kane is somehow quite weak in his free kick-taking abilities and has a 1.78% conversion rate, per Opta.

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It is quite alarming and more bizarrely, he is usually still on set piece duty for Tottenham when they get a free kick in a dangerous area.

Kane's troubles with free kicks

As to the 'why' of Kane struggling with free kicks, despite being a master at taking penalties, many theories have come to the fore.

Some have simply concluded that he is the classic number 9 who can score goals from open play seamlessly, but free kick conversion is not in his locker, which can be forgiven so long as he keeps scoring goals.

But former footballer, Jamie O'Hara had an interesting theory on why Kane should not be relied on for free kicks.

According to O'Hara, the striker was more of an ‘instinct player’ and attempting to score from a free kick afforded him too much time to 'think about it', which meant a higher chances of messing up.

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"Harry Kane, when you watch him play, everything is instinct. You know, he's got instinct. Striker's instinct. His first touch," said O'Hara on TalkSport.

"Everything is about his brain moving quickly. When he takes free kicks, he's got a moment to set himself, he's got time, he thinks about it, he has to think about the technique."

Kane’s inability to take free kicks with efficiency has not stopped him from becoming Spurs’ all-time goal scorer.

Thanks to his goal against Fulham on January 23, he has moved to 266 goals for the north London club, which puts him level with the great Jimmy Greaves.

Conte aims dig at Kane

Sports Brief also reported on Antonio Conte’s sly dig at Kane, after the striker equaled Jimmy Greaves’ record for Spurs.

The Italian tactician seemed unfazed by the record-equalling goal, stating he wanted trophies to match his player's goals.

Kane is now 61 goals away from becoming the all-time leading goal scorer in the Premier League's history books.