Gareth’s burnout warning for Kane
ENGLAND v SWITZERLAND
KICK-OFF: 8PM
GARETH SOUTHGATE fears Harry Kane could be facing post-World Cup burnout.
The Tottenham striker scored six goals in the finals in Russia as England reached the semi-finals, but flagged as the tournament wore on and has now failed to find the net in his past four internationals.
Kane worked hard but had few opportunities in the 2-1 Nations League loss to Spain at Wembley on Saturday and has had only 10 shots in total in his four matches for his club Tottenham this season.
Remarkably, Kane has played 61 games since the start of last season and England manager Southgate said he will rest his top scorer for tonight’s friendly against Switzerland at Leicester’s King Power Stadium.
Southgate said: “Harry will not play. We have several players where we have to watch how much they play.
“It was a short break after the World Cup with no preseason and everybody was back earlier than people would have expected for their clubs.
“Harry needs a rest. We talked after the World Cup about the demands on the modern player.
“Everybody has to play a part in that but the clubs own the player and have to do the right thing for them.”
Southgate, whose team have lost three games in a row, added: “Clubs would be
holding their breath and hiding behind their sofas watching our teams go out.
“If I was a club manager I would have no choice but to bring players back, when they did otherwise. I could not field a team and get off to a good start. That is just the circumstances of the start date of the league and us going as far as we did at the World Cup.
“As the season goes on, I know a lot of those managers will look to give those players a week off at the right time.
“We want to look at doing the right thing with the players for our long-term benefit. A lot of guys who were with us over the summer did not get as much football as they would have liked.”
Southgate will tonight pair Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck up front. With Luke Shaw and Dele Alli injured, the England manager is set to make a total of nine changes from the side that lost to Spain.
Jack Butland will be in goal, James Tarkowski and Kyle Walker come into defence, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Danny Rose are the wing-backs, and Fabian Delph, Eric Dier and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will all start in midfield.