England captain Harry Kane ignored advice from former striker Alan Shearer ahead of his side's former World Cup group clash with Wales.
Kane is just two goals shy of equalling Wayne Rooney's all-time goalscoring record for the Three Lions but has yet to open his account during this month’s World Cup – failing to find the net in the opening two group stages matches against Iran and the United States.
Tottenham striker Kane has skippered Gareth Southgate’s side since 2018, taking over the role ahead of the World Cup in Russia. England reached the semi-finals of that tournament, with Kane himself winning the Golden Boot after scoring six goals.
However, the 29-year-old has struggled to find his best form in the opening stages of the tournament with Shearer believing that the Spurs frontman was dropping too deep during matches. The BBC Sport pundit encouraged Kane to stay further forward and have patience for his teammates to create chances for him.
That did not appear to be the advice that Kane followed in England's concluding group stage game against Wales, with a dearth of opportunities for either side seeing Kane – who once again led England’s line, ahead of Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden – once more frequently dropping deep to collect the ball and build-up attacks from midfield.
"Harry only had four touches in the box in the first two games," Shearer said on BBC Sport ahead of England’s clash against Wales. "So in the first game, I thought he was very good, played his part, and had a couple of assists.
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"But from an attacking point of view as a team, that game against Iran was all about energy, about moving the ball really quickly, and Iran just couldn’t handle them. More importantly, it was about attacking the space and getting in behind the back four, or back five, and they did that really well. When you move the ball quickly teams can't live with England."
Shearer continued: "The negative in the USA game was they didn't have the energy, didn't play the balls in behind. I think you can turn teams and that's when England are at their very best.
"With the ability, these guys have got that ball should be going in there, and if they do that tonight I don't think that Wales will be able to live with England. The eight shots that they had vs the USA was the lowest by an England team at the World Cup for 32 years, and that's their third lowest since 1966, so move the ball quick, have runners, and get that killer pass."
Former England striker Shearer concluded: "Look forwards, not sideways, and don't have too many touches on the ball. They'll cause Wales problems if they do that."
