Arsenal legend Tony Adams doesn't think that Harry Kane should captain England in the future. The 56-year-old, who once wore the armband for the Three Lions himself, believes that the honour should go to someone who plays further back than the striker position.
Whilst Adams admits that Kane is rightfully the first name on the team sheet, he thinks that him being captain means that it makes it difficult for Gareth Southgate to substitute him if he feels England need to make a tactical switch.
"Harry Kane is a great player, a top goalscorer, commands total respect from his team-mates and is rightly the first name on the England teamsheet," Adams wrote in The Sun. "So far, so good, but I have my reservations about him as captain.
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"It's not because I doubt his abilities as a leader, but if Gareth Southgate ever needs to change things, he cannot take Harry off. All strikers have a bad day occasionally, even Harry, but nothing looks worse to the rest of the team than if the skipper is subbed. You look across to the bench and see your leader sitting there, and it sends a bad message. Consequently, Harry stays on when it might be detrimental to the team. Ok, that might not be very often, but it does happen."
He added: "If your skipper is in midfield or defence, you give them the armband knowing that, even if you want to switch tactics, you're still unlikely to sub them. It is more likely to be a striker who comes off either to be directly replaced or to add an extra body in midfield or defence."
But Adams' theory has pretty much already been proved wrong by Southgate. Kane was substituted for Dominic Calvert-Lewin against both Croatia and Scotland in the group stage of Euro 2020, whilst he was also replaced by the same man in the Three Lions' 4-0 Quarter-final thrashing of Ukraine.
The England boss has shown that he's willing to take Kane off in major tournaments, and that isn't likely to change in Qatar. Nevertheless, Adams still thinks that either a midfielder or defender should be captain. In this instance, he believes that West Ham United's club captain, Declan Rice, should be considered for the role.
"Personally, I'd have given the captaincy to Declan Rice," he said. "I love his character. He had a fantastic Euros, and you know he's going to give you 90 minutes. Don't forget the last time we won it. We had a West Ham captain, so it makes perfect sense!"
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