Yahoo News Gary Lineker pinpoints Harry Kane's England problem as Ollie Watkins impresses
Harry Kane's opener against Denmark might have been a moment of composure, yet Gary Lineker has pointed the finger at England's captain for their lacklustre first-half performance.
The 'Match of the Day' presenter took issue with Kane's off-the-ball efforts, saying "he has barely moved" and pinpointing his lack of pressing as a key factor. Despite Kane's early goal, he was substituted for Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins after 70 minutes, with the match concluding in a 1-1 stalemate in Frankfurt.
Watkins looked immediately sharp when coming on and offered England a sense of urgency and energy in the final thrid, alas it was too little too late.
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Lineker's critique was echoed by pundits post-match, who dissected England's tendency to drop back following Denmark's leveller from Morten Hjulmand, which sneaked into Jordan Pickford's net.
"Can I offer a slight theory? If you want to press, it has to come from your centre forward first," Lineker proposed.
"Harry does not press and he has not pressed in that first half. He's barely moved. Then the team goes deeper and Harry Kane goes even deeper and even when you get the ball you have nothing to hit. I just don't understand.", reports the Mirror.
Micah Richards weighed in on the debate, acknowledging the dilemma England faces with Kane's style: "There's a conundrum with how England want to set up. They want to press and have got the players to press. But Harry Kane is so good at scoring goals and his record is unbelievable. When his goal comes, you think, 'OK, Harry Kane is confident."
"But the other side of the game, he just needs to improve. When you're talking about goals, he's one of the best."
Rio Ferdinand chimed in with his take, saying: "I would be going mad. I'd be screaming at him. I couldn't have my centre forward not filling in with the workload the other players are putting. I need to see that intensity. Put their centre halves under pressure as I'm feeling as an England defender."
Securing a victory over Denmark would have guaranteed England the top position in Group C and a more favourable draw for the round of 16. The Three Lions still have a match against Slovenia on Tuesday night to contend with.
Could Watkins and Kane play together?
Watkins claims he has been “underestimated” by the media. The striker enjoyed a superb season for Villa, firing them to fourth place in the Premier League and next season’s Champions League as well as the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League. In total, Watkins scored 19 league goals and eight in Europe.
Despite those figures, his place in England’s squad for Euro 2024 was still being questioned by some before Gareth Southgate named the Villa man alongside fellow strikers Harry Kane and Ivan Toney. And speaking from the Three Lions’ base in Blankenhain, Watkins said: “From my perspective, the media maybe underestimated me.
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“I had a really good year, got the most assists in the league, scored a lot of goals and people still wrest including me in their squads to come to the Euros. Everyone has their own opinion, but I don’t feel like I have that big profile where I’m talked about.
“Or where if I was left out of the squad, people would be like: ‘Oh, I can’t believe they didn’t pick Ollie Watkins’. I’m happy I’m here now.”
Having been an unused substitute in England’s opening group win over Serbia, Watkins is relishing any opportunity to represent his country at his first major tournament and believes he could form a lethal combination with Kane if they were to play together.
“I would like to play with H because he drops in deep, he can play the number 10 role and he picks up a lot passes,” he said. “I feel it would be similar to when he was at Tottenham and picking the balls up and playing it through to Son (Heung-min). But I know we’re blessed with a lot of talent in the number 10 role.”
