I’ve mentioned it over the years but it’s a common theme amongst England supporters and journalists to do their best at tearing down their best players. Kane’s the current target. Rooney was before him. Beckham before him. And I no doubt assume others were from before I can truly remember. When you look at how Argentina idolise Messi and Maradonna, Portugal Ronaldo, Brazil with Neymar, Vini and all their past ones… it makes me wonder why any top player would want to represent our country at times.
It may have slipped people's attention, but Bryan Gil came on as a sub for Spain last night and scored A bit of a scrappy goal, but it was against Switzerland so scrappy is all you're going to get against them https://streamff.com/v/b04089a6
It's more insidious than that, because they have a habit of ****ting on the players who coincidentally don't play for the usual suspects This was made abundantly clear during Euro 2004 when Ledders started a match and the commentators were bemoaning why someone let a Tottenham player on the pitch - and only stopped their pissing and moaning when he was awarded MotM
Brennan with a goal and an assist against Iceland. I hope that ignites the spark again as he's really gone off the boil in recent weeks.
I think the argument with Kane is that he doesn't run in behind defenders and that makes it difficult for England to create space in the final third. With an abundance of players who can play off the striker somebody needs to stretch the play to allow these players (whether it's Palmer or Foden or Bellingham) to find space to create or take goal scoring chances. Based on the small sample of size of the Greece away game, many have decided that Watkins is the better option .It's never been Kane's game. Kane is a class act; he brings experience and quality and an unerring ability to score goals. But as he ages - and becomes slower and more inclined to drop deeper - there may be opportunities to play Watkins (or others) in certain games or off the bench for a significant period going forward. So I can see the argument from both sides.
Kane has never run behind, he is the best English finisher by a distance, he is also one of the best passers as evidenced by his pass to Bellingham on Sunday something no other English striker and only Trent amongst the other England players is possibly capable of. The key is getting quicker faster players ahead of him. The Greece game that Watkins started he contributed no more than Kane does , yes he scored (and justified his selection ha ha) but it was a goal Harry scores with his eyes closed and it is unlikely that he wouldn't have found that space it didn't require speed of foot just presence of mind. Other than that Watkins (who I do like) looked rather out of form and short of confidence, as evidenced by his recent Villa form too. But I do also agree that other options do need to be tried and that Kanes previous achievements should not cloud future judgements about him always 'having' to start.
Sonny has paid tribute to the Palestine team after their 1-1 draw with South Korea Better get the bingo card out now...
Kane, Watkins and Solanke all offer different strengths and the new manager should be able to appreciate that. Horses for courses and all that. The main issue, in my opinion, is a lack of a top quality playmaker in the squad. There's a ton of depth and options to address a wide variety of roles in the side. Creativity is lacking throughout though, apart from one right-back who isn't the best defender. Where's the new Carrick?
Watkins wf The space in the box is usually created when Kane drops back and defenders follow him.Bellingham in accordinglyparticular understands that and times his runs
