Michael Owen has delivered tactical advice to Harry Kane and England manager Thomas Tuchel, with the former Three Lions striker telling GOAL why the “best finisher in the world” needs to heed advice when it comes to doing his “job”.
As the ultimate team player Kane is happy to drop wide and deep, but that takes him away from areas where he can cause the most damage.
Record breaker: Kane posting astonishing numbers
Kane has still been inflicting plenty of pain on domestic and international rivals, with remarkable individual standards being maintained with club and country. Tottenham’s all-time leading scorer has taken his historic tally of goals for England to 78 and has been smashing records while plundering 124 efforts for Bayern Munich through 130 appearances.
He has broken his trophy duck, becoming a Bundesliga title winner, and has two Golden Boots in Germany to his name. Bayern will be looking to him for inspiration in an ongoing domestic title defence and a bid for Champions League honours.
Kane reminded of the need to do his ‘job’
When the World Cup finals roll around this summer, Kane will spearhead England’s charge for a global crown as captain of the Three Lions. He will be required to deliver end product on the grandest of stages, with timely reminders being offered of the need to continue playing to his strengths.
Ex-Bayern boss Felix Magath told Sport recently: “I would always use players according to their strengths. Harry Kane can score goals. He’s praised by everyone and everyone cheers that he also runs around at the back. But that’s not his job. If he were to run around up front instead of in midfield or at the back, that would be better for the team.”
Owen advice: How England get the best out of captain Kane
It is not the first time that Kane has faced questions of his willingness to vacate the front line, with it possible that his numbers could be even better. Owen hopes that England can find a way of bringing the best out of their skipper.
The former Three Lions frontman — speaking in association with casino.org, where he is now the UK ambassador for the online casino comparison site — told GOAL when asked if Kane roaming around the field is an issue: “A lot depends on who he is playing alongside. When he was at Spurs it worked really well because [Heung-min] Son had a great deal of tempo and they’d interchange – one would drop in and one would go. It was arduous for defenders to mark them.
“So much is dependent upon who’s taking part in within the group. He can drop in and may spray the ball round however, for me, I’d need Harry Kane — particularly the age he’s now — to save lots of plenty of his power to attain targets, to remain in and across the field.
“The issue with being a centre-forward is that you’re so reliant in your team-mates to get the ball to you. If it’s a troublesome sport and you’re hardly getting the ball, the pure inclination is to get entangled, to drop deep. As a lot as that provides you a little bit of confidence and really feel like you’re getting concerned within the sport, generally you want that concentrate on to hit.
“Personally, I feel he’s arguably one of the best finisher on the earth. I don’t actually need him losing too many touches taking part in deep. After all linking the play is one thing that he must do, to be a constructing block for the group, however I wouldn’t need him coming too deep.
“I additionally get it as a result of the older you get, you would possibly begin shedding half a yard of tempo and you may really feel as if you could have had sport even when you don’t rating by taking part in a couple of balls and aiding a couple of issues. I’ve been there.
“Usually, he’s our largest hope. Who can’t get injured earlier than the match, who do we’d like most? It must be him, nonetheless. Who’ve we received in our league? Harry Kane scores targets like no person else. We actually want him in flying kind and saving all of his power to attain targets.”
England fixtures: Countdown to 2026 World Cup
Kane might be hoping so as to add to his worldwide aim haul, whereas shifting ever nearer to Peter Shilton’s file tally of 125 caps, when England face Uruguay and Japan in pleasant dates on the finish of March.
They would be the final fixtures that Tuchel will get wherein to experiment earlier than World Cup plans need to be drawn up, with the Three Lions – who’ve two pre-tournament video games to absorb after heading to the USA – set to get their bid for world glory underway towards Croatia on June 17.
