It is now three matches since England scored a good from open play and with the Qatar World Cup just months away, this does not bode well.
Coach Gareth Southgate has admitted the Three Lions rely far too much on striker Harry Kane to provide a cutting edge. The Tottenham forward was given a breather last night against Italy in the UEFA Nations League and unsurprisingly the match ended in a drab 0-0 draw with England struggling to create chances.
They looked blunt going forward and were too pedestrian in their approach play. Relying on just one player is a huge concern. Opposition teams will realise that if they can stop Kane they can stop England. Southgate gave Tammy Abraham a chance up front but the AS Roma man failed to make the most of the rare opportunity. England got the ball in the right areas but lacked quality in the final third. Sure, they faced a well-drilled Italian team but still, the performance left much to be desired.
Chance for revenge
Had captain Kane started perhaps the result would have been different. But the concern for Southgate is how poor the team looked without their talisman leading the line.
This was a chance for England to gain revenge for the Euro 2020 final defeat by the Italians but they could not take it and they remain winless in their UEFA Nations League campaign having played three matches, drawing two and losing ine. They were shocked by Hungary and Southgate knows he will have to get the team firing on all cylinders soon and he must find a way to get goals without Kane. Otherwise, they could be saying goodbye to their World Cup hopes.
Kane has scored an impressive 50 goals for his country while the rest of this current squad have 49 between them. Take him out of the side and they look shot shy. His record is superb and he looks likely to overtake Wayne Rooney as the leading scorer but the rest of the team must start to share the load. They cannot always depend on Kane to get them out of a mess.
Abraham had a good season in Italy scoring 27 goals for Jose Mourinho’s team which won the Europa Conference League. They also have Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Newcastle’s Callum Wilson as options in attack but none of them are on the same level. There is a big gap between Kane and the others.
End product
Fortunately they have attacking threats from the flanks with Raheem Sterling and if Jack Grealish can find an end product the goals can flow.
England do not need to always play beautiful football either, what it must be is effective. They need to ensure they have a ruthless edge about them to win games because as of now this is lacking.
They must find their goalscoring touch if they are to be successful in Qatar later this year and if for whatever reason Kane is unavailable then the others must step up and be counted. They cannot risk becoming a one-man team.
