Logic tells you that if you take a squad of 23 players to a summer tournament, not all of them will play well. However, we probably should have seen Harry Kane’s problems at Euro 2016 coming before we got here.
Kane, the Tottenham centre forward, is not a player who suffers from a lack of confidence or application. His progression through the ranks of English football points to a strong mind and an ability to learn quickly.
No, it is more likely that Kane, just 22, has reached his first major tournament suffering from an age-old English disease. The one caused by a diet of too much football.
It was hard to watch the social media voices grow stronger in their criticism of Kane during Thursday’s first-half struggle against Wales. Some wrote him off as simply not good enough. Others suggested he wasn’t trying. It is hard to say which of those two notions is the more absurd.
Kane has been one of the stars of the Premier League over the last two seasons. A real No 9, he has scored many goals at club level and showed in that wonderful cameo against Germany in Berlin in March that he has enough about him to serve his country well for years to come.
So when we look for reasons for two atypical performances here, we should look at the numbers associated with a player who has essentially been playing football for two whole years without a proper break.
Since July 19, 2014, for example, there have been just 10 weeks in which Kane has not played a football match. He has been Tottenham’s lead striker for two seasons and has not suffered serious injury in that time.
Last summer he was chosen for Gareth Southgate’s Under 21 squad for their European Championship in the Czech Republic. After some time off, he travelled to America on a pre-season tour with Tottenham.
So when you look for his last prolonged rest from football you have to go back as far as the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Further analysis shows he has played at least one match in each of the last 24 months. During that time, he has laced up his boots 133 times. That’s a lot of football.
Kane has not presented this as a reason for his poor form in France. He has not sought refuge in that excuse.
However, it is hard to think it may not be a contributing factor and in France already this summer some observers have been asking quite vocally how England can hope to be at their best without the benefit of a mid-season break.
That is an ancient discussion but it remains pertinent. Recent tournaments have found many English players struggling for form. It is a problem that has afflicted Wayne Rooney in the past as well as Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. Rooney’s form has been good here so far and maybe it is worth remembering that the England captain played no football between February 13 and April 13 this year because of injury. In effect, he was forced into a two-month break and has returned fit and firing.
It is not right to blame Tottenham for Kane’s malaise. He is their player. Nor is it right to blame Roy Hodgson for using him in pre-tournament warm-ups.
The England manager is a victim as much as anyone. A victim of an English way of doing things that is simply not designed to help the national team at major finals. – Daily Mail