Do you remember that weird six-month period, which unhelpfully included Euro 2024, when people seriously thought that England needed to move on from Harry Kane and that things would improve as a result? And by “improve”, they meant England would do better than a run of semi-final, final, quarter-final, final at major tournaments. Halcyon days, my friends.
It has been a difficult week for that particular take to avoid ageing like milk left out in the summer sun. Watching Dominic Solanke (four touches in the penalty area, no shots on target) and Phil Foden (one touch in the penalty area, no shots on target) labour against mid-ranking opponents, the only possible conclusion was “I’d quite like that bloke who scores all of our goals back”.
Kane is currently enjoying his season mirabilis, amid some competition. He has scored 53 goals in 45 matches for Bayern Munich and England. He is a legitimate Ballon D’Or contender with good reason. It is quite possible that the best footballer in the world right now is English. It is quite possible that this is the first time ever that England has possessed the best footballer in the world.
Which is all good news, except when Kane isn’t there or isn’t fully fit. England ostensibly have a low-block problem that has existed for at least two years when they face opponents weak enough to sacrifice territory but strong enough to be good at either deep defending, counter-attacking or both. Which covers quite a lot of national teams.
Kane is the best No 9 in the world right now (Photo: Getty)Kane has been the antidote to that issue. Not because he does not get consumed by it (there have been many occasions, through a lack of service or Kane dropping very deep, where it has caused a problem), but because he retains an unerring ability to turn a quarter chance into a half chance like nobody else of his nationality can.
Since the last European Championship, Kane has not started in five England matches: won two, lost two, drew one. He has started 13 and England have won 12 of them. In the exception (Senegal at the City Ground), Kane scored the opening goal and was substituted at 1-1 before England conceded twice more.
In 2017, Pep Guardiola received some north London opprobrium for describing Tottenham Hotspur as “The Harry Kane team”. It was intended more as a compliment to the individual than a slight on the XI, but Mauricio Pochettino felt it disrespectful to Kane’s teammates.
Nine years later, and in the same complimentary terms England’s team is the same. Declan Rice is brilliant and important at progressing the ball and winning it back. Bukayo Saka is still the best winger. Jordan Pickford and Marc Guehi are of vital consequence defensively.
But Kane is by a vast distance the bellwether of the collective. He will determine how far England go in North America. And it was his struggles at Euro 2024 that made getting to the final a magnificent achievement rather than a stick to beat the then-manager hard with in public. Not everything is tactical; sometimes you just need your best player to be at their best.
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Is it a problem that England’s most important player turns 33 this summer? Maybe. This is a long domestic season, Kane has suffered a couple of injuries and the USA is going to be disgustingly hot for football. It hardly helps that England’s striker cupboard is bare, to the extent that neither of the two backups from Euro 2024 – Watkins and Toney – were in the 35-man squad in March.
There’s also a slight irony to all this. England spent years playing catch-up on the technical revolution and the coaching revolution and have done fine work on both counts. And now, as the game appears to have largely moved on from the traditional No 9 to the multifunctional, fast wide forward, England have the best No 9 in the game.
But this is the hand that England have been dealt and we should dwell on the positives. It can never be a bad thing to have the best in the world at what they do. If missing Kane highlights the deep flaws, having him back should provide a double dose of comfort. Kane can still come back and crown the best year of his career at his final World Cup. Just don’t have him on corners this time.
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