WHAT SOUTHGATE MUST DO NEXT
Don’t put boot into Kane... he had no service
THE most damning statistic from England’s defeat by Spain is that Harry Kane touched the ball just 20 times, fewer than any other player who completed the full 90 minutes.
Some will argue that this is proof that the England captain is exhausted after a long World Cup summer and lacked the energy to impose himself on the game.
It is true that Kane is lacking sharpness. I get that he has had little time to rest since the start of last season.
But fatigue was not the main factor in his laboured performance at Wembley. You cannot put the boot into a striker who was starved of service all evening.
Jesse Lingard, Jordan Henderson and Dele Alli simply could not handle the intense pressure from Spain’s midfield three.
They were outplayed, outclassed and could not find ways to get Kane on the ball.
This is a forward who is reliant on balls going into him. At Tottenham, he gets that in abundance from Alli, Christian Eriksen and Lucas Moura. Against Spain, he received the ball just four times from the England midfield with Lingard failing to pick him out with a single pass.
It is telling that three- quarters of Kane’s touches were in the midfield areas or close to the halfway line. Clearly frustrated, he kept dropping deep to try to get more involved.
I admire Gareth Southgate’s desire to play out from the back but when you come up against a side like Spain, you have to box clever. There is a difference between a long punt and a long pass. Clipping balls in behind the midfield is a legitimate way to beat the press, especially when you have a 6ft 2in target man leading the line. England did not do that enough.
When Kane did get on the ball, we saw flashes of his brilliance. He switched the play superbly to send Luke Shaw flying down the left to set up Marcus Rashford’s goal. On one of the two occasions Alli managed to feed him, Kane slid a pass through to Rashford who should have scored.
Kane’s strike partner was one of the few bright sparks for England. That was a seriously mature performance from a player who lost his head when getting sent off at Burnley six days previously.
He was a constant threat, always looking to get in behind and showing signs of the exciting player who burst on to the scene at Manchester United two years ago. He demonstrated why he should be starting every week. If Jose Mourinho continues to restrict his opportunities, Rashford should seriously think about leaving Old Trafford to develop his career.
What concerned me most was the lack of options on the bench. Without Jamie Vardy or the injured Raheem Sterling, where are the match-winners? Southgate will be tempted to ring the changes for tomorrow’s friendly against Switzerland but neither Rashford nor Danny Welbeck are a focal point like Kane.
There is no competition for places. Last season Southgate capped Dominic Solanke and Tammy Abraham but one cannot get in Liverpool’s match- day squad and the other has dropped into the Championship with Aston Villa. Glenn Murray and Troy Deeney have started well but neither is a long-term option. It may be time to take a chance on Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson.
It is a far cry from when I was playing and England had Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, Ian Wright, Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Dion Dublin, Stan Collymore and Teddy Sheringham all battling for places.
Now, I cannot think of a time when England had fewer striking options to call upon.