Harry Kane’s relative anonymity has been a concern for England at Euro 2024. While the Three Lions have made it to the semi-final, their star striker has struggled to fire in attack.
And that could partly be down to his position within Gareth Southgate’s system. Despite his potency for Bayern Munich this season, Kane has been operating in a remarkably deep-lying role with England.
As analysed by our own Adam Clery in his latest video for FourFourTwo's YouTube, Kane’s average position against Switzerland in the quarter-final was deeper than BOTH Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden. The former Spurs striker does often look to seek out the ball, but more worryingly for England he made just nine passes throughout the game.
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Kane’s apparent reluctance to get into advanced positions, whether tactical or not, has reduced England’s goal threat, with balls into the box from wide areas proving ineffective. It also caused issues defensively: with no focal point up front, the ball kept coming back at England during periods of the game.
Kane was eventually withdrawn in extra-time after clattering into the dugout (and very nearly taking out Southgate in the process). Ivan Toney, a far more traditional striker, replaced him and held his position in attack.
Whether Southgate will make the bold decision to drop one of world football’s greatest goal scorers for a European Championship semi-final remains to be seen. But what is clear is that Kane’s role likely needs to be tweaked.
The Bayern forward clearly still has the backing of his teammates. Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold said: “Anyone who is facing England would like to see Harry Kane not playing.
“I think we are talking about England’s record goalscorer so that is as big as anything you can say about him. You just know he is a threat. Anything in and around the box, you need to be on red alert. He can finish it from any angle.
"I always say he is the best finisher I have seen or played with. He can find the back of the net from anywhere. He can drop down and build play up and his hold-up play is incredible, too. All round, a fantastic player.”
In my opinion, Harry Kane has struggled to find form and looks to be in need of a rest, dropping him would likely be rash at this stage of the tournament. He is capable, on his day, of producing a match-winning moment, while Ivan Toney and Ollie Watkins remain relatively unproven on the international stage.
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