Kevin Nolan raved about Tottenham striker Harry Kane but raised an issue with him dropping deep too much, as he told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
The West Ham coach pointed out that he wants the Spurs hitman ‘around the box’ a lot more and thought England didn’t see the best of him at Euro 2020.
Kane scored four goals at Euro 2020, as the Spurs man watched England suffer a gut-wrenching final defeat to Italy on Sunday.
Nolan, who would have come up against Kane in West Ham colours, claimed ‘what a talent’ the 27-year-old is, but raised one issue.
“Listen, what a talent he is,” said Nolan. “Have we seen the best Harry Kane at this tournament? Probably not.
“Did we see the best Harry Kane against Italy? Probably not. But I think he’s a talisman. You can see that they all really respect him. He leads the team really well.
“But, for me, I want to see him in the box. I want to see him around the box. Every time you are playing against Harry Kane and he’s got the ball, right foot or left foot, and you are thinking ‘oh no’.”
Even though Kane failed to score during the group stages of Euro 2020, he still managed to find the back of the net on four occasions.
That Italy defeat will live long in the memory of those England players unless they can turn that nightmare into a dream scenario in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
A lot was made of Kane’s performances and this need for him to drop deep.
Well, given that he did it quite a lot under Jose Mourinho’s stewardship, and finished as top goal-scorer and assist-maker, then there’s no reason why he shouldn’t carry on doing it.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
