Jose Mourinho told talkSPORT on Tuesday morning that the England team is ‘not reaching’ Tottenham striker Harry Kane in his struggles at Euro 2020.
A lot has been made about the Tottenham hitman’s performances at Euro 2020, with the Premier League’s highest goalscorer yet to get off the mark.
It isn’t helped with the fact that the team performances from England themselves have been pretty abject, but it’s still been a talking point, nonetheless.
But with England set to take on the Czech Republic today in their final group game, this is what Mourinho had to say about the player he managed at Tottenham last season.
“A striker also depends on his team,” said Mourinho. “He depends on the dynamic of the team.
“The best thing for a player is when he’s lucky enough to play in the national which is very, very similar that the player has at club level.
“The way Harry is playing, it’s not similar to what he does at Tottenham. Foden open on the right is a little bit more of the same. Mason Mount, I think, is much more of an eight than a ten.
“With Harry Kane, I see that the team is not reaching him. Harry when he drops, they need to find him. They need players to make movements behind his shoulders. They must attack the last line.
“When the fullbacks arrive in crossing positions and they are not doing that. You know Harry’s movement in the box. This kind of situation is happening.”
Gareth Southgate’s tactics and the personnel he is selecting needs to be looked at, rather than Kane himself.
The biggest problem is that Kane isn’t missing chances, nor are chances being created for others around him.
The midfield is too defensive-minded, whilst the fullbacks aren’t pushing up high enough, nor are they putting in crosses when in the attacking third.
Plus, players such as Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice were pretty poor against Scotland, so eyes should be on others rather than at England’s number nine.
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