WE’RE STILL ABLE WITHOUT KANE
Southgate insists England are not a one- man strike force and he has faith in emerging talent
WHEN Serbian referee Srdjan Jovanovic pointed to the spot to offer a last- minute reprieve, the English response was almost instinctive.
“Where’s Harry Kane?”
“Why did Gareth Southgate take him off with 12 minutes to go and a game to be won.”
However, when Raheem Sterling coolly rolled the spot kick into the centre of the goal, despite the late drama of the missed penalty at the other end, it was almost as if English football had entered a new era.
So much so that England could go into their second game of the week with their talisman sat on the bench. Because England can win without him.
When Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola first offered up the label “the Harry Kane team” in October 2017, he was talking about Tottenham.
But since that time England had won 13 of the 14 competitive internationals in which he has scored. By contrast, in the 10 games before Saturday in which Kane had not scored, England had won just twice.
It is why, whatever his fitness situation, he generally plays most games from the first whistle to the last.
Only one of the five times Southgate had previously risked taking him off had come before England were at least four goals to the good. But with Sterling taking on the leadership mantle in Reykjavik – if not the captain’s armband, which Southgate admitted Kane had erroneously given to Spurs team- mate Eric Dier – there is a belief that England can still win games without him.
“Harry is a supreme goalscorer and is critical to the way we play,” Southgate said. “Equally, we have some tremendous threats which will be clear as the next few months develop, with Raheem Sterling in particular.
“Obviously we’ve spoken about Jadon Sancho already, Mason Greenwood coming though, Marcus Rashford, of course, at home, Phil Foden, who I thought had a really good debut in really difficult circumstances – really difficult to play in those areas – and Mason Mount will score goals as well.
“The nice thing is that we won’t be leaning just on Harry and I think games like the win in Spain show that goals can come from elsewhere. But he’s still a critical part of what we do.”
Not so critical, though, that Southgate is seriously considering his options against Denmark.
“The most important thing over the next few days will be to really assess who can start both games, what gives us the freshness but keeps enough experience, to keep the balance of the team right,” Southgate said.
“Energy will be key. You saw through the game, particularly through the first 20 minutes, that match sharpness through all of our players is not quite there. It is impossible to expect them to be at their best, given not only the time since their last competitive games, but also the shortage of training minutes.
“The last part to come is that sharpness around the final third, and, although they were in the right positions, they were trying to do the right things, to break down that packed defence on a slightly stodgy pitch was a real challenge – and that little bit of quality just wasn’t there.”
Were Marcus Rashford fit, the decision could be a no- brainer. But Southgate perhaps lacks anybody with experience to lead the line against Denmark.
Danny Ings’ first cameo since his last one five years ago did not give him the time to present his credentials for becoming a leading international striker as well as a handy goalscorer for his club. And Mason Greenwood, at just 18, has his best years to come. Suddenly, however, despite a turgid 90 minutes in Iceland – there are some options out there.
He’s critical to the way we play but we won’t be leaning on Harry