We need to talk about Harry Kane.
England reached the semi-finals of another major tournament. But their captain, leader, talisman, forward and greatest goalscorer of all time looked as flexible as an arthritic scarecrow.
OK Too harsh. He has scored two goals in five games at the Euros so far, with his contributions generally ranging from mediocre to non-existent, and it looks like he is struggling for fitness. But there are clearly some questions to be asked here.
Questions like: How is his health? What does he bring to the team so far? Is he now England’s Cristiano Ronaldo?
In previous years, that last question might have been met with gushing praise, but by 2024 it’s almost become criticism – with some suggesting Kane is only staying at the club because of reputation and that his manager lacks the wherewithal to make tough decisions courage. But is this really true?
Given that a fit and in-form Kane is undoubtedly one of the best forwards in the world, fitness concerns seem to be the most relevant.
Well, he was fit enough to start every match England played at the Euros, playing 464 minutes, completing two games and being substituted in three (the 70th minute against Denmark midway through the group stage) , the 105th minute against Slovakia in this round) and the 16th and 109th minutes against Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Saturday).
He played through a season-ending back injury at Bayern Munich that then-manager Thomas Tuchel described as a “complete lockdown”, which bodes well for an accurate description of England’s current attack. “It got worse and disrupted his daily activities,” Tuchel said in May.
Kane has received treatment from his personal medical team to be fit for the match and although he has started all five games, eye tests have shown that he is far from his free-flowing best and at this time he can be without Seam the floor and be the team’s creator and finisher with grace in a split second. He doesn’t seem capable of that right now.
Harry Kane wasn’t at his best at Euro 2024 (Stefan Matzke – sampics/Getty Images)
In an England shirt this summer, his movement was uncomfortable, clunky and stunted (trying a volley in the final group game against Slovenia, his frame looked almost distorted), and his link-up ability was So weak, lacking energy and pace to beat defenders and get the ball forward and into the box.
England manager Gareth Southgate appeared to be trying to inflict damage on Kane so he would have an excuse to take him off when the pair collided late in the game in Switzerland (this was a joke, don’t curse in the comments My rude name) This caused Kane to suffer cramps but although he was quickly substituted he said he will be available for Wednesday’s semi-final against the Netherlands.
“I’m fine. I’m just tired,” said Kane, who turns 31 later this month. “I had a bit of a cramp there. I tripped over the water bottle and both my calves were cramped. The coach obviously made a decision very quickly and Ivan (who came on as substitute) is a proven penalty taker. He Came in and got the job done.
For Portugal, the 39-year-old Ronaldo has proven irreplaceable and nearly irreplaceable in this tournament (he used to be Questions may have been raised against Georgia when he was substituted after 66 minutes, although his side were already in the knockout stages before their final group game and did make eight other changes Why play), because they were eliminated in the same quarterfinals and went to France, also on penalties.
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England’s formation change against Switzerland worked to an extent, thanks to Bukayo Saka
Kane may not have Ronaldo’s ego, but he has a similar status in the England team – he scored 44 goals in 45 games for new club Bayern last season (of course, Ronaldo was playing in the Saudi Professional League at the time). But it turns out that over time, Southgate is more than capable of making bold decisions, such as dropping Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount, Jack Greeley and even his former favorite Two of the players are Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson.
Omitting Kane from the starting XI on Wednesday would be a bigger bombshell than all the above combined.
This almost certainly won’t happen. But should it?
Against Switzerland, it was shocking how little Kane was involved in England’s build-up play.
Yes, he will stretch the Swiss backline, and yes, he will drop deep to receive the ball, but as this link diagram reflecting England’s passing movement shows, Kane (you can find him near the center circle ) is a very strange person.
When it comes to these graphics, it’s not uncommon for a team’s centers to not have strong links, but this shows how little involvement Kane had against Switzerland.
In this respect, he is similar to Ronaldo, who was similarly unknown for Portugal in Friday’s quarterfinals:
Dropping deep is nothing new for Kane – he’s been doing it for years and to great effect – but against Switzerland he had fewer touches in the opposition’s third area, It also shows his lack of sharpness:
Sometimes he obviously goes also Going deep, even into the full-back areas and hampering England at times would certainly be better with a more fixed focus up front, especially if Kane’s current fitness level is nowhere near as high as usual.
There is certainly an argument to be made that remaining at the last line of the opposition defense is more conducive to suppressing the centre-backs and creating space between the lines for the likes of Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka. – For example, in the example against Denmark, Foden and Bellingham could slot in behind the midfield.
But if this is Kane’s primary role, there are other fitter, fresher players in the squad who can do that while providing England with more pressing or movement.
“He’s not going to give up on Harry Kane,” former England international and now leading British pundit Gary Neville said of Southgate on Sky Sports after the game in Switzerland. “He was one of his leaders, one of the greatest English footballersWe have. There is no doubt that he was not at his absolute best in this game, but the team was not at its best either. The service to him was not very good.
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The partnership system, Pickford’s bottle, key stops: England’s penalty analysis against Switzerland
“(Kane should) stay high between the two centre-backs and then drop a little bit to try to draw those centre-halves in and get the run back in behind.
“He doesn’t look like himself. He doesn’t look as sharp when the ball is passed to him, in and out of the box. He doesn’t seem to be getting touches and shots like he normally does, but barring injury, he won’t be disuse.
Toney has played an active role on the bench in both knockout games, and Ollie Watkins is able to offer different qualities to Kane and Toni in terms of pace, pressing and running from behind, so there is an argument to be made that Toni has debate.
Given Kane’s stature, his relationship with Southgate (he is thought to have the England manager’s ear and vice versa), his experience, temperament and obvious ability to score goals (100 points per fitness or not) ), which may be redundant.
There have been instances before where teams with inefficient forwards won games.
Portugal’s defensive-minded Portugal team at Euro 2016 featured Ronaldo and Nani up front, while France used the non-scoring Olivier Giroud as a forward at the 2018 World Cup (although he participated in the 2018 World Cup), but he didn’t even have one shot on target. (Stephane Guivarc’h) did the same thing.
The difference is that all of these players are fit and their contributions have been considerable for the team, at least in France’s case, still scoring goals.
But England were incredible against Germany and for long periods it didn’t look like they were scoring. They generated no momentum, their expected goals figure was low and they relied on moments like Bellingham’s overhead kick and Saka’s perfect finish to equalize against Slovakia and Switzerland respectively. The two goals occurred in the 95th and 80th minutes respectively, England’s first shot in the game.
If these sentences don’t sound like the secret to winning a tournament, they probably aren’t.
England have reached the last four, but in order to lift the trophy in Berlin next Sunday, they will certainly need Kane to be somewhere close to his best; if he doesn’t have the ability to do that, then it might be a mistake to say so. Kind of sacrilegious, but they might have been better off with someone else up front, especially if the forward’s main role was to occupy the defenders.
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England were unconvincing, but who cares? It’s time to enjoy the journey
(Popular Photo: Getty Images)
