Harry Kane is the record goalscorer for England. Last season he won the European Golden Shoe, and hit the back of the net 44 times all told for his club Bayern Munich.
So why on earth have we constantly seen him dropping back onto the halfway line at the Euros? We can talk until we’re blue in the face about fitness, formations, pitches, weather and even the colour of England’s shorts.
But the sight of England’s talisman demanding possession 50 yards from his striking zone has been symptomatic of the way Gareth Southgate’s side have limped into the last 16. Kane is there to score goals.
To do that, he needs to get himself in and around the penalty area, because that’s where he’ll do his damage. Opposition defenders must love it when Harry drops deep. He’s doing their job for them.
He’s out of business on the halfway line and I think it’s a sign of how disjointed England have been that the captain feels the need to get on the ball, leaving the team with no focal point in attack.
Singh Gill to make history as Premier League's first Sikh-Punjabi official
It can be frustrating for a striker when they aren’t involved. I’ve been there myself. But you have to be disciplined. You have to sacrifice yourself by listening to your head rather than your heart. If Kane had a strike partner, that WOULD give him licence to drop into pockets of space.
But as a lone forward you need to keep defenders occupied and get yourself into areas where you can do what you’re good at. I think of myself as a cup-half-full person so I have tried to look for the positives ahead of today’s clash with Slovakia.
England won their group, and a defence that was questioned before the tournament began has only conceded one goal. I’m afraid that’s about it. The bottom line is that the performances can’t get any worse, and we can only hope that something clicks in the knockouts and we will see England play in a way that makes the country proud.
Gareth Southgate deserves to be cut some slack (Getty Images)It was sad to see Southgate being pelted with plastic cups after the goalless draw with Slovenia last week. The man deserves better, after what he’s done for England in the eight years since he took on the job, with the national team then in crisis.
If Gareth is honest with himself, he will admit that he made mistakes before the tournament. It was obvious to everyone that Luke Shaw was going to struggle to make it. He missed the last four months of Manchester United’s season with a hamstring injury so it was always going to be a race against time.
Waiting for updates on Shaw’s fitness only emphasises the folly of not taking a naturally left-footed defender like Jarrad Branthwaite. Southgate took a punt on Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton, but Branthwaite was surely the gamble he should have taken?
Luke Shaw is yet to play for England due to a hamstring injury (Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)No wonder the defence looks so unbalanced – England are playing with four right-footed players in there. The side is also missing the ball-retention skills of Jack Grealish. I wouldn’t have just named the Manchester City winger in my squad, I would have played him.
Southgate has shoehorned players into positions. Trent Alexander-Arnold in central midfield didn’t work. And now the Liverpool full-back appears to be paying an unfair price for an experiment that failed.
The time for trying major experiments and taking major risks isn’t during a major tournament. That’s what the friendlies are for. England have been unable to access the flanks because Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka both instinctively come inside so they can get onto their strongest foot.
If Southgate is going to persevere with that formation then he has to get Alexander-Arnold in the team to provide natural width and an attacking threat. No, Trent isn’t as good as Kyle Walker defensively. But the quality of his passes and crosses alone are worth a place in the team.
Marcus Rashford handed new challenge by Erik ten Hag to ensure Man Utd success
Perhaps we have all been simply unrealistic in our expectations of England, and Gareth is now a victim of his own success. Southgate has taken the Three Lions deep at the World Cup and the last Euros – but this isn’t a Golden Generation, by any stretch of the imagination.
This team isn’t anywhere near as talented as the one that included Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. Were we just expecting too much by thinking England could come home from Germany as European champions?
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
