Harry Kane reacts to being dropped by England forward of Thomas Tuchel arrival
Snubbed England captain Harry Kane has admitted to being taken aback after being benched for the recent victory over Greece.
The national team’s skipper was unexpectedly left out of the starting eleven as the Three Lions avenged a prior defeat by defeating Greece away – a stark turnaround following a loss at Wembley. Generally a fixture in the line-up, Kane found himself side-lined in favour of Ollie Watkins leading the attack.
Despite racking up goals aplenty for Bayern Munich and showing no dip in form, Kane was subject to manager Lee Carsley’s strategic alterations in the run-up to international retirement. Watkins grabbed his chance with both hands, making the net bulge within seven minutes for the lads, reports the Mirror.
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Initially, Kane confessed that the benching came as a jolt, but he remained upbeat, focusing on adopting a supportive role and ensuring the squad was top-notch prepared.
(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
He expressed his thoughts saying: “It was probably a little bit of a shock. It was about getting my head around it. But I wasn’t down about it. I wasn’t worried about it. I understood where Lee was coming from and I think that’s part and parcel of being captain. I’ve made it clear that I want to start every game.
“But being a leader, you sometimes have to take things in your stride and say ‘ok, I am ready to help the team.”
Carsley is set to return to his post with the U21s once his caretaker gig wraps up. Thomas Tuchel is queued up to start his role pronto, and Watkins, tipped as Kane’s backup, was handed the reins to lead from the front minus Kane at his side.
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
“It was important to give Ollie Watkins an opportunity,” Carsley divulged to ITV about his call. “To experience a night like this will be great for himself. This team needs to try and create leaders and one way to do that is give them opportunities.”
Kane has been quite vocal recently regarding players ducking out of England responsibilities many blaming injury with the skipper crystal clear that national duty trumps club time.
“I think England comes before anything. England comes before club,” Kane declared. “England is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer and Gareth [Southgate] was hot on that and he wasn’t afraid to make decisions if, you know, that started to drift from certain players.”
