Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CORNER COUNT
Shearer urges Kane to go from taking the set-pieces at Euros to prove himself as one of the world’s biggest stars in Russia
ALAN SHEARER has warned Harry Kane he needs to make a big impact at the World Cup to prove himself on the global stage.
Kane was reduced to taking corners in France two years ago – finishing the Euro finals without a goal as England crashed out of the tournament in the last 16.
Former Three Lions captain Shearer, launching the BBC’S coverage of this summer’s finals, says the Tottenham talisman needs to score goals to back up his remarkable club form.
And he is alarmed that England are preparing without an experienced international goalkeeper after Joe Hart’s fall from favour.
Gareth Southgate declares his hand for Russia today when he names his 23-man squad for the tournament.
Kane will be the first name on the England coach’s teamsheet – but Shearer believes the Spurs messiah, who has scored 147 goals in the last four seasons for club and country, still needs to make a statement at the highest level.
Southgate’s predecessor Roy Hodgson was lampooned, harpooned and ridiculed for assigning Kane to take corners in 2016, when England showed impeccable solidarity with the Brexit vote by bowing out of the Euros.
Shearer was impressed by Kane’s finishing as Spurs signed off the season with a 5-4 win over Leicester.
And he said: “I think it’s a huge tournament for Harry because of what happened two years ago.
“I’m pretty sure he won’t be asked to take corners at this World Cup, that’s for sure.
“To put himself on the global stage – he’s known all around Europe, obviously – he has to go out, perform and score goals in this tournament.
“Harry hasn’t looked at his sharpest over the last two or three weeks, perhaps because of his injury.
“But he had two chances at Wembley on Sunday and he took them both very well, as did Jamie Vardy.
“They will go into the World Cup with confidence,
Harry with
41 goals for his club this season and
Vardy with
23.”
While
Kane’s Premier League form has rarely been a cause for concern – apart from his annual sabbatical in August – he has yet to consecrate his insatiable appetite for scoring goals at a major tournament.
He is not the first England striker to struggle in exalted company, Wayne Rooney only managing one goal in three World Cup tournaments.
Along with fellow Beeb pundits Gary Lineker, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Jermaine Jenas, Shearer is alarmed by the question mark over England’s No.1 shirt.
Jordan Pickford, Jack Butland and Nick Pope are expected to be the three keepers Southgate names – but they have only nine England caps between them. Shearer scowled: “It would be a huge concern for England to go into a World
Cup with a goalkeeper of no major tournament experience, let alone actually playing.”
Ferdinand warned:
“If we’re going to play three at the back, we’ve got no idea who those three are going to be.
“That needs cementing down now in the warm-up friendlies.
“We’re all sitting here trying to work out what that three is – and we can’t pick it. Even John Stones, at the back end of the season, wasn’t playing many games after having an injury.
“In one game, Gareth played Kyle Walker as a right-sided centre-half, which adds pace – something that was lacking. I can see that continuing.
“It’s key for any team to understand who is playing in those important positions. The triangle between keeper and centre-backs is something that needs sorting out drastically.” The BBC will show 33 live games from Russia, including England’s opening group games against Tunisia and Panama, when the World Cup begins on June 14. Didier Drogba, Jurgen Klinsmann and Pablo Zabaleta will add an international flavour to the corporation’s squad of pundits at the tournament.