FVery few top teams use two strikers these days. Some people like to use fake number 9. The England captain always starts.
Gareth Southgate has no recollections of Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham pairing up at Euro 96. Lingham and Bukayo Saka support him in attacking midfield.
England’s back-up strikers Ivan Toney and Ollie Watkins had to spend a lot of time imagining what it would be like to play alongside Kane, exploiting his through balls and rough-and-tumble defenders the old-fashioned way.
But last Sunday, with England mere seconds away from knocking out Slovakia in the last 16, Southgate decided to try something different. Toney came on with 94 minutes left in the game. The Brentford striker’s manager admits he wasn’t particularly impressed at being brought in at that stage. He desperately needs more time to save England.
But Toney dominated the Slovak defenders and made his presence felt when Kyle Walker’s long ball was headed in by Marc Guéhi. They can’t stop Bellingham from doing what Tony succinctly describes as “Jude doing Jude things.”
Attention is naturally focused on the overhead kick. But there was another factor in England’s comeback. Toni derailed Slovakia. His physicality annoys them. He controlled the ball, moved his teammates and deftly set up Kane’s winning goal in overtime.
It’s a shame to hear England don’t train the two forwards much. Their attack had been in vain. It has been suggested that Kane’s partnership with Toney or Watkins could bring freshness into their quarter-final clash with Switzerland on Saturday.
“I feel like when you have two guys in front, you just put yourself out there,” Tony said. “It gives the opposition more room to think. I’ll hit the ball back to H and he can steal it for a few seconds.
Tony is very focused on positive thinking. “There was a guy at Brentford called Michael Caulfield who always talked about controlling your emotions,” he said. Tony admitted he was annoyed with Southgate. “That’s the time to control your emotions,” he said. “I’m angry, but there are still 30 minutes left in the game. You have to concentrate.
The 28-year-old is full of humour. “I think the look on my face said it all,” Tony smiled, explaining how Southgate could tell he was in a bad mood. “Everything is arranged now. We are friends!”
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Tony is keen to leave his mark on the European Cup. “You’re happy to be competing,” he said. “Everyone wants to play, not just me. In my dying moments, I’ll be thinking: ‘When am I going to play?’ ” You looked at the clock and thought, “Now, now.” ” The time has not come yet, but it has come in the dying moment.
“I’ve seen it so many times when you’re on the touchline getting ready to play and the ball doesn’t go out and the final whistle blows. But if I wasn’t annoyed sitting on the bench then I don’t think you have the right attitude either. Not really wanting to play football, you have to stay focused and change your mentality.
“You can go home at any time, which is really eye-opening. The relief when you get back to the locker room is: ‘Okay, kids, it’s time to move on.’ “I think we have the character and quality of players to do it. Hopefully we can do it now.
Tony insists he always believed England would score. “There’s always a big opportunity,” he said. “You saw it in the game in Turkey when an Austrian player scored with a header in the last minute and the goalkeeper made a great save. It’s just that belief. If you can do that in the last minute, then chances are good It will fall on someone. It will be up to you whether you can take it or not.
If the ball falls into Tony’s hands, he’ll back himself up. He is not afraid of taking penalties if England go into a shootout. But the question is how far Southgate is prepared to use him. England can catch up with Switzerland by borrowing tactics that should be a thing of the past.
