Kane has lost his golden touch but it’s just crazy to drop him
HARRY KANE spelled out before England’s sleepy-eyed wake-up call against Scotland that he regards reaching the Euros semi-finals as a bare minimum for his side.they will not do so unless he springs to life.
The substitution of the England captain for the second game running against the admirable Scots on Friday night underscored his underperformance at this tournament so far.
Much was made ahead of it of England’s embarrassment of creative riches, but one goal in two matches is a source of concern.
Kane is their primary goal source but has delivered a resounding raspberry so far.
In 155 minutes on the field at Wembley he has managed just three goal attempts, two of which went wide and one of which was blocked.
There has been nothing on target which, for Kane, over a span of two matches is almost unheard of.
It isn’t as if he is making up for his lack of effectiveness in front of goal in other areas.a largely anonymous Friday evening against Scotland saw him touch the ball just 19 times. Something is missing. As I see it, there are three possible explanations.
The first is that he is simply knackered after the congested domestic season, but then that could apply to most players at these Euros finals.
The second is that he is carrying an injury of some sort.
His history of ankle issues at Tottenham stretches back five years.there have been two more this year including one as recently as April, sustained against Everton.
The third is the one which looks most compelling, that the uncertainty over his future is weighing him down.
Kane is the consummate professional but he is not a robot even if he sometimes sounds like one. Next season’s Premier League fixtures are already out and he does
not know for certain where he will be playing his club football.
Spurs face Manchester City on the opening weekend.as things stand, he could be running out for either team.
Gareth Southgate has plenty on his plate after the Scotland game but none more important than rebooting hisworld Cup Golden Boot winner and this is a subject on which he could help, having put in a transfer request of his own at Aston Villa just before Euro 2000.
He ended up staying but he, too, had it hanging over him during the tournament.while Southgate had, by that stage of his career, already had experience of a transfer, having been sold by Crystal Palace five years previously, this is virgin territory for Kane.
He had his loan spells early on in his career but essentially he has been a one-club man and his emotional investment in Spurs is deep.
The wrench will be a big one if he leaves and not just for football reasons, with a wife and three children to relocate.
KANE has to park all that because, right now, his team and his country need him. Captains lead, they aren’t carried but so far at the Euros it has been left to lesser lights to shoulder the burden.
England prevailed against Croatia because the likes of Kalvin Phillips and Tyrone Mings stepped up but there was no one able to rise to the same heights against the
Scots.
The muted boos that rang out atwembley from the England fans as the delirious Tartan Army celebrated their precious point was an understandable reaction.
England, and their leader, were well off the pace.
Two quiet – make that silent – games in a row for Kane and there has been knee-jerk talk of axing him from the starting line-up.
No one is undroppable, as
Kane said after the Croatia win, but that way insanity lies.
The England system has been built around Kane. Dismantling it now – in a tournament in which the side remains unbeaten and still on course to qualify for the knockout stages – would be crazy.
His only like-for-like replacement, Dominic Calvert-lewin, has scored four goals for England; Kane has scored 34. He is England’s totem.
Unless he does have an injury he has to start Tuesday’s game against Czech Republic and try to play his way back into form.
Kane has been binge-watching Game of Thrones episodes in his down time at this tournament.
If he has reached season six he will have come across Jon Snow being brought back from the dead.
Kane’s situation is not quite so extreme but his resurrection against the Czechs is critical for the health of England’s tournament.