Roy Keane told ITV Sport on Wednesday evening that he would be ‘going mad’ at Tottenham striker Harry Kane for dropping too deep during England’s 1-0 win against Austria.
In preparation for Euro 2020, the Three Lions hosted Austria in an international friendly at the Riverside Stadium, with Tottenham’s main man leading the line for his country.
But just like he has been doing for Tottenham this season, Kane was constantly dropping deep and finding himself outside of the box when players like Trent Alexander-Arnold were in prime position to whip the ball into the box.
Kane’s constant desire to drop deep didn’t sit well with Keane, who thought that the Englishman’s fellow teammates should have had a go at him.
“There’s nothing wrong with Kane linking up because he gets that joy with Tottenham,” said Keane. “But I think when it gets into the wide areas. We saw Trent coming back once or twice because he looked forward (and no one was in the box).
“If you’re Trent, you just put it into the box when you are in a good wide position and then it’s up to Kane. You argue afterwards. The man on the ball is dictating it, so Kane linking up is all well and good.
“But when it goes wide, and you have brilliant fullbacks and wide players who are going to put it into the box, and you are the main goalscorer then you get yourself in the box.
“I expect players around to have a go at Kane. Don’t be frightened. I will put it in and say ‘next time I put that ball in their then you better get in that box. You are the main threat’ – You’ll be going mad at him.”
By Kane’s standards, it was a poor performance from the Premier League’s highest goalscorer and assist-maker for the recently concluded campaign.
Given that it was a friendly, he was subbed off in the second half by Gareth Southgate, with Everton’s leaping forward, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, taking his place.
Another friendly awaits England this Sunday against Romania, before they kick off their first group game of Euro 2020 against Croatia next week.
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