Alan Shearer claimed on BBC One (11/7, 23:24) after the Euro 2020 final that Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane lacked balance to his role for England in their defeat to Italy.
The Premier League all-time top-goalscorer believes Gareth Southgate misused Kane at Wembley on Sunday night. Shearer felt Kane was dropping too deep, too often to try and get on the ball and stretch the Azzurri defence.
But, in doing so, Kane was not in the positions where he needed to be to offer a goal threat. Shearer also noted how the Three Lions captain failed to register a single touch inside Italy’s 18-yard box all game.
Shearer knew Kane could cause Italy problems in that way by drawing Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini out of position. But he conceded the Tottenham star lacked the balance the role needed for England.
“In terms of Harry Kane, there’s a balance when you’re playing as a forward,” Shearer said. “His game tonight, particularly in the first half, he was causing them problems because he was coming deep. But he didn’t have one touch the whole game in the 18-yard box.
“So, it’s finding the balance to say: ‘Yes, okay, we’re going to ask questions of you’, if you want to come out and draw the defenders out, like we wanted him to do. But, in terms of being a threat, which is where he should be, he didn’t have a shot.
“It’s been a really tough night for him. Having said that, he is against two giants at the back in Bonucci and Chiellini. We said before the game that that could cause them problems, and it did in the first half because we were getting runners off them and in behind.”
Tottenham star Kane was missing for England at striker vs Italy
Shearer’s claim is supported by WhoScored, who show Kane’s only touch inside Gianluigi Donnarumma’s area coming from his shoot-out penalty. The 27-year-old also only took one touch on the edge of the Italy penalty area, instead he frequently drifted wide.
But Tottenham talisman Kane was not positioning himself where England needed him while seeking a response to Italy’s equaliser. It left the likes of Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling to come in off the wings to occupy the spaces between Chiellini and Bonucci.
Yet Kane’s deeper role did show signs of promise in the first-half and created the space for Luke Shaw’s goal. Southgate was likely relying on those moments coming again when leaving the Tottenham striker to play deep – even if it left England without their focal point.
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