Graeme Souness slammed the treatment of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane during England’s 6-2 win over Iran at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Monday.
The former Scotland international thinks it was ‘totally wrong’ how the Spurs man was allowed to play on by manager Gareth Southgate, despite suffering a ‘bleed’ to his ankle early in the second half, as he told ITV Sport.
At that time, England were winning 3-0 and they could have easily subbed their captain.
Instead, he stayed on for 20 more minutes, and then after the game, there was worry about Kane’s right ankle and if it might rule him out of his nation’s clash against the USA on Friday.
Well, that’s not going to be the case because he has trained since, but Souness still wasn’t happy at how Kane was treated given his importance to the team.
“I am watching England, with my manager’s hat on, then when I see Harry Kane’s challenge and I am thinking ‘this boy has a history with these ankles’,” said Souness.
“He stayed down for a bit. He wasn’t right and walking gingerly on it. I am thinking ‘he has to come off now’. That happened three minutes into the second half. He went off in the 75th minute. He had 27 minutes running on that ankle.
“Some players need saving from themselves. He’s a goalscorer. He is thinking ‘there are goals in this game against Iran. That’s why I am going to stay on’. That’s a mistake. I think the manager should have taken him off immediately. You are 3-0 up, at that time. You don’t need to risk Harry anymore. I think England can do really, really well, as long as Harry scores lots of goals.
“He’s properly rocked that ankle. He would have had a bleed, so for 27 minutes, he has been running about on that ankle bleeding. It’s totally the wrong thing. He should have been off immediately and put on ice – he needed saving from himself. “
KANE NEEDS TO BE USED BETTER
Whether it’s Mauricio Pochettino, Antonio Conte or Gareth Southgate. Every manager Kane always starts him and hardly subs him off – the latter is the most important one.
Even if the team is winning by a comfortable scoreline and there is a fair bit of time to go, he still stays on the pitch.
That doesn’t help matters and is a big reason why he has had ankle issues before given the amount of pressure and workload he puts on it.
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