Gareth Southgate performs down Harry Kane fears after England star’s quiet opener
Gareth Southgate insists Harry Kane remains central to England’s bid to become kings of Europe.
And Southgate has told the critics he will find the solutions to England’s problems as he plots his way through Euro 2024. Southgate was left with more questions than answers following his side’s disappointing 1-0 win over Serbia in their opening clash of Group C.
One of the more perplexing ones surrounded captain Harry Kane. The Bayern Munich striker might have hit the crossbar in the second half with a header, but touched the ball just twice before the break.
READ MORE: Five things we learned as England beat Serbia in their first game at Euro 2024
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But Southgate jumped to the defence of Kane, and believes he was one of the main reasons England limped over the line to secure three crucial points. Southgate said: “I thought in the second-half he did an incredible job holding the ball up.
“The number of fouls that he won, he got his body across (defenders) well. There isn’t space in that front line for everybody to be on the ball in every moment.
“In the first-half Bukayo (Saka) was obviously prominent. Jude (Bellingham) was prominent. So Harry didn’t get as much of the ball, but in the second-half his performance was absolutely crucial to us getting the win.”
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Southgate is battling to work out his best formation and combinations, not to mention deal with players who have had little game time in recent months. Kieran Trippier completed the whole game against Serbia, the first time he’s done this at any level since April.
But Southgate is confident of coming up with solutions moving forward, starting with the second group game against Denmark in Frankfurt on Thursday. He said: “Look, I think the team in the second-half didn’t have the same control.
“I thought, physically, we had players that needed the game. We’ve had a lot of players that hadn’t played 90 minutes for a long time. We expended a lot of energy in that first-half. I knew that we would dip. We’ll have to see (about selection). There’s obviously a lot of new players, young players in the squad.
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“The team that started against Serbia was a very experienced team in terms of international and club football, bar Marc (Guehi), who had a brilliant game. So we’re just going to have to assess as we go from game to game.”
Southgate knows he has a lot to work on as England look to go deep in the tournament. But he was pleased with the way his side showed the mental toughness to secure three hard-fought points.
He added: “We are dealing with the cards we have been handed. We’re trying to find the best way with that, so I’m really pleased that given the circumstance, we’ve managed to show the resilience we did in the second-half.”
