IF KANE FIRES, ENGLAND DO... BUT HE MUST NOT FADE OUT LIKE 2018
WHEN the complex debate about ‘footballers on social media’ rears its head, one positive is always stressed.
It goes something like this. It would be a shame if the abuse compelled players to come off the online platforms because it allows them to interact directly with the fans.
And Harry Kane does just that.
Indeed, 48 hours before kick-off against Croatia, he was imploring them to ‘become me in @FortniteGame’.
Yep, Harry is now an icon in the computer game Fortnite.
On Wednesday, he was urging them to ‘enter Cadbury FC’s #WinThe Captain before time runs out’.
On Monday, he was telling them about ‘that indescribable first taste of Coca-Cola’, which, apparently is ‘similar to the indescribable feeling of scoring a goal’.
You get the picture.
These are scheduled tweets, of course, that take up a zero amount of Kane’s time.
They are the work of his ‘people’, looking after a portfolio of sponsors that also includes Hugo Boss, Harry’s (shaving products), TCL Electronics and Soccer Supplement (performance nutrition).
On the quiet, Kane has become another David Beckham – without the addiction to the red carpet.
And like Becks, he has never allowed commercial commitments to become a distraction.
He is ultraprofessional, singleminded and a credit to himself and his trade.
Without his unbelievable focus, Kane would not have three Golden
Boots to start with, never mind displaying them on social media.
Both on and off the field, he is unselfish too, hence his award for the most Premier League assists last season. Kane (below) is the complete package, apart from the one obvious thing.
And if that anomaly is to be erased on July 11, if England are to win their first major trophy in 55 years, no one will play a role
more important than Kane’s. For all Gareth Southgate’s talk of leadership all over the park, England are short of a talisman or two.
Declan Rice might become that sort of figure, as will the injured Harry Maguire, but Kane is the figurehead of this team.
If he fires, the team will fire. But what England need is for Kane to actually become a little more selfish.
If Southgate can select the right midfield/attacking combination, there will be no need for Kane to drop deep as often as he does for Tottenham.
Spurs need his goals AND his assists, England just need his goals. Consider the array of talent that can create for the England captain.
Jack Grealish has already spoken about it being a dream to provide for a striker such as Kane. And then there is Phil Foden, Mason Mount, Jadon Sancho, off the bench, and others.
While there have been growing reservations about England’s defensive unit – in whatever form it might take – there has been plenty of talk about a host of attacking game-changers.
But Kane remains THE go-to matchwinner, as he was in that first game of World Cup 2018 against Tunisia.
Kane faded in the knockout stages of that tournament and, if England are to go all the way this summer, the captain simply must be on his A-game for the entire duration.
Southgate and England need Kane for a whole month – not just for a Fortnite.
If Southgate selects the right combination, there will be no need for Kane to drop deep like he has to with Tottenham