Alan Shearer feels it is time England bench Harry Kane at the World Cup as the Tottenham Hotspur star looked ‘very tired’ against the USA. The Three Lions face Wales next Tuesday.
Kane has started each of England’s opening two fixtures at Qatar 2022 against Iran and the USA so far. But the striker is yet to open his account and has even failed to register a single shot on target. Although the Three Lions skipper did offer two assists to help beat Iran 6-2.
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Raheem Sterling fired home to send England into the break 3-0 up from Kane’s cross in the Three Lions’ opening tie with Iran. The Tottenham talisman also later fed Marcus Rashford in the second half to make it 5-1. But his presence was often anonymous against the USA.
Tottenham star Kane was often anonymous for England vs the USA at the World Cup
Kane started against the Stars and Stripes after scans revealed he avoided an ankle injury. Gareth Southgate replaced the striker with Callum Wilson midway through the second half against Iran after a poor tackle by Morteza Pouraliganji left Kane walking slightly wounded.
Yet while England’s medical team declared Kane fully fit, he was clearly a yard short in the 0-0 draw with the USA. All too often the centre-forward took up central midfield areas and pinged the ball around while letting Chelsea’s Mason Mount advance as a de facto striker.
Alan Shearer calls for Gareth Southgate to bench the ‘very leggy’ striker vs Wales
As England only need to avoid a 4-0 defeat to Wales after beating Iran and drawing with the USA to make the Round of 16, Shearer feels it is time that Southgate benches Kane as the Tottenham forward could clearly do with a rest rather than a chance to score his first goal.
“After his first two games at the last World Cup, Harry Kane had scored five goals. At the same stage of this tournament, he has not had a shot on target,” Shearer told BBC Sport.
“I am not overly concerned about that statistic because we know the provider role Harry plays for this England team even when he is not scoring himself. But watching him against the United States, it was clear something wasn’t right.
“He came through that scare about his ankle before the US game. But, after playing a big part in an impressive team performance in the Iran game with two assists, he looked very tired and very leggy to me.”
Kane only truly enjoyed three sights of the USA goal during England’s 0-0 draw on Friday at Al Bayt Stadium. Walker Zimmerman blocked the Tottenham forward’s first attempt to hit past Arsenal’s Matt Turner. While his next too were unlikely to threaten the Gunners man.
Southgate should also be somewhat concerned that of Kane’s 40 touches against the USA, he took just three inside the Stars and Stripes’ penalty area, per WhoScored. They came on nine, 73 and 92 minutes. He took just as many touches inside the Three Lions’ penalty box.
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