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 exhausting for defenders to mark them.
“Quite a bit 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 loads of his vitality 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 tricky sport and you might be hardly getting the ball, the pure inclination is to become involved, to drop deep. As a lot as that offers you a little bit of confidence and really feel like you might be getting concerned within the sport, typically you want that concentrate on to hit.
“Personally, I feel he’s arguably the very best finisher on this planet. I don’t really need him losing too many touches taking part in deep. In fact 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 may begin dropping half a yard of tempo and you’ll really feel as if you’ve gotten had sport even in case you don’t rating by taking part in a number of balls and aiding a number of issues. I’ve been there.
“On the whole, he’s our greatest hope. Who can’t get injured earlier than the match, who do we want most? It must be him, nonetheless. Who’ve we bought in our league? Harry Kane scores targets like no person else. We actually want him in flying kind and saving all of his vitality to attain targets.”
England fixtures: Countdown to 2026 World Cup
Kane will likely be hoping so as to add to his worldwide aim haul, whereas shifting ever nearer to Peter Shilton’s report 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 through which to experiment earlier than World Cup plans must be drawn up, with the Three Lions – who’ve two pre-tournament video games to absorb after heading to america – set to get their bid for world glory underway in opposition to Croatia on June 17.
