SIR GEOFF HURST
Why I’m jealous of Kane:
SIR GEOFF HURST has revealed he is “slightly envious” of Harry Kane after claiming the England captain has added another string to his bow.
World Cup winner Hurst, 78, the hat- trick hero of the 1966 World Cup final, enjoyed the greatest moment in English football history but believes Kane is also destined to become a legend.
Kane passed the 50- cap barrier in Belgium on Sunday and is already sixth on England’s all- time scoring list with 32 goals. And Hurst believes the Tottenham striker has taken his game to a new level by becoming a superb playmaker as well as a prolific goalscorer.
“He’s now the complete player, he’s more than just a goalscorer and striker and we’ve seen in recent games for Spurs that his involvement in making assists is fantastic,” said Hurst.
“What I really liked about his play in the second half in Belgium, when we controlled the game but were always surrounded, you could play the ball to him in very tight situations and he very rarely lost the ball.
“That was quite incredible especially when you’ve got 21 players in one half of the pitch, not a lot of space around for the front players.
“But every time he received it, he was able to do something with it, wasn’t robbed or pushed off the ball.
“That was an element of his game on top of his distribution and also on top of his goalscoring, so he is adding more and more to his game all of the time. Of course I should congratulate him because he got his 50th cap which I didn’t quite make because I got to 49 and I’m slightly envious of that.
“I didn’t quite make my 50th but he’s a fantastic player and if you could pick a Harry Kane in every position, have one outstanding player in every position when you can say he’s the best in his position, then you’d know your best XI.”
Hurst also believes England have a hugely promising front line beyond Kane, but the defeat by Belgium showed they are lacking the pace of Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling.
He said: “Gareth ( Southgate) has got a great selection of players in the attacking areas. It’s sad Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling didn’t play. In the second half we didn’t create enough chances.
“I felt strongly we needed someone with the pace to knock the ball over the top to. Sometimes, as a striker, you have got to turn players round and don’t always play to feet.
“If we’d had Rashford who is very pacy or Sterling who is very pacy, it would have been another dimension and would have made a difference. You are talking about Belgium who are No1 in the world. But it’s difficult to play three games in a short space of time because I’m sure the FA are under pressure from Premier League clubs.
“It would be nice where a manager is able to pick his best XI most of the time.
“Having such a big squad can sometimes be difficult and you start asking, ‘ Which XI do you pick?’. That becomes a slight problem.”
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