Harry Kane has credited Jose Mourinho as integral to Tottenham Hotspur's resurgence, with the England captain stating his belief that the Portuguese has brought out the best in him and his teammates.
The north London outfit have enjoyed one of their best starts to a season in recent memory this term, cementing themselves as early frontrunners in the Premier League.
Despite contention with a major fixture crush thanks to their Europa League commitments, Mourinho's team have defied their hectic schedule with a string of eye-catching performances.
The influence of the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager, who has racked up near-two-dozen major honours during his two-decade-long career in the coaching hotseat, has been pronounced since he succeded Mauricio Pochettino last year.
Tottenham have not tasted success since a League Cup triumph in 2008, though they have come close with a Champions League final in 2019 - but Kane believes that with the 57-year-old at the helm, the future is looking rosy.
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“We’ve got a long, long way to go,” the Three Lions skipper addressed the Press Association. “A long old season. I think, as proven in my career so far, it takes a lot to get over the line. We haven’t quite done that yet.
“We’ve been close a few times so we know there’s going to be a lot of hard work from now until then to do that. It’s been a good start. Obviously, we lost the first game against Everton which was disappointing, but since then we've been unbeaten in the league.
“Even the dropped points we had against West Ham and Newcastle with last-minute goals should have been wins from our point of view. We’re playing well.
"I still think that we can improve and get better but obviously we’re second in the league. We’re in November, there’s still a lot of games to play, but we’re in a good spot.”
On Mourinho's personal influence, which has helped Kane further blossom with a fine individual haul, the 27-year-old remained effusive, adding: “It’s been great to have him just at the training ground, on the training field.
"Just learning and seeing how he goes about his business, seeing how he deals with different situations and problems, so that’s all been great to learn.
I think he saw in my game that I like to drop deep so he made it clear [the rest of the squad] that if I do drop deep then they need to be the ones running in behind.
"I think that’s been the real difference. It’s allowed me to create space and get the ball but have an option going forward as well. He’s been great and I look forward to obviously the months ahead and getting on really well.”