Sandbach Shrimper
Life President⭐
Here's one for you guys and gals. Harry Kane, start him against Netherlands, or not? My own view is that he suits teams like Spurs and Bayern because they fed or feed him all the time. We are hardly making any chances for him, so he starts dropping back as he wants to be involved, then a breakaway happens by Saka for example, and the cross comes in, and Kane is still catching up and too far behind the ball. This set up and tactics does not suit Kane. He's hardly getting fed. He's also looking sluggish after a long hard season. I would start the faster more mobile Watkins, if not, then of course Toney. Kane can come on with 20 minutes to go.
There's definitely a strong argument for dropping Kane, but let's face it Southgate never would. He's just not getting into goalscoring positions enough. There was one moment in particular against Switzerland when Saka got to the byline and played the ball into exactly the right area, but Kane was pretty much on the edge of the box. He looks sluggish. As Jamie O'Hara said on Talksport, we don't need to keep him on for penalties anymore as we've got other good penalty takers in the side.
Toney has had an impact when he's come on in the last two games and has more of a physical presence than Kane. Watkins hasn't really been given a chance yet at the tournament so can't see him starting, but is another good option. Southgate wanted bigger squads of 26 but then there are several players who have had hardly any/no minutes so far. Netherlands have two centre-backs in their 30s so we need forwards who are going to run in behind.
Saying that, Kane has still scored two winning goals. It would be a risk dropping him but sometimes you need to take risks to win tournaments.
Last edited: