As England captain, Harry Kane often has to act as the bridge between the team and the public.
With the Three Lions’ recent underwhelming displays at the European Championship, Kane is tasked with the challenge of explaining to the masses why things have not panned out as expected.
A case could be made that England have the best front four at the tournament.
With Kane, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka coming into Euro 2024 off the back of excellent seasons, they were expected to take the tournament by storm.
Harry Kane admits error on his part alongside Phil Foden at Euro 2024
However, football is not played on paper and on the pitch, the likes of Germany and Spain have looked far more threatening going forward.
But with the Three Lions having only played two games in the tournament so far, all hope is not lost.
As England gear up to lock horns against Slovenia, Kane has admitted that he, Foden and Bellingham have perhaps made a mistake by occupying the same areas of the pitch.
The Bayern Munich striker said via BeanymanSports: “I think I’ll probably say from all of us, maybe just a little more positional discipline maybe is just a word. When we look back at the games, there’s times where we were a little too deep and not just us as well, certain areas of the pitch where we had too many numbers behind their press or their block.”
Kane added: “And then we found it really hard to progress up the pitch. Yeah, like I said, as we play more with each other, especially in those positions, it’ll get better and we’ll have more understanding but yeah, maybe a bit more discipline in all of our positional play.”
“We all want to maybe get on the ball and make a difference, which is great, we’re all players who love getting it in those positions but also, we need to be a threat going forward, which we haven’t been compared to our usual selves.”
However, Kane remains confident that he, Foden and Bellingham could thrive as an attacking trio for England.
“Yeah, again, it’s something that we all work on and see what areas we can improve but I don’t think there’s an issue with us three playing with each other. For example, the seasons we all had speak for themselves and there’s no reason why we can’t start ramping that up on the pitch and getting to a level that we know we can.”
Southgate must assist Kane, Foden and Bellingham in this regard
Kane certainly has a point as often, it has seemed like he, Foden and Bellingham have all wished to operate as attacking midfielders.
Being three extremely technically gifted players, one can understand why their intention would be to get on the ball and make a difference for England.
However, that also leads to a lack of balance in attack for Gareth Southgate’s team.
As a result, Southgate must step in and help his superstar attackers find a way to get with each other on the pitch.
The 53-year-old must give Kane, Foden and Bellingham strict instructions on which areas of the pitch to occupy and set up his team in a way that they can thrive from their designated zones.
The £225,000-a-week man certainly needs to be given such instructions as a lack of positional direction will lead to a creator like him getting stick if the team struggle to score goals.
The set-up against Slovenia will give an indication of how well Foden, for instance, has been explained his role in the England side.