Jamie Carragher has called for one England player’s role to change following the 1-0 win over Serbia to kick off their Euro 2024 campaign.
England top Group C after one matchday after Jude Bellingham scored the only goal of the game 13 minutes in at the Veltins Arena.
The Three Lions dominated large parts of the first half and then had to show resilience in the second when Serbia changed their approach and improved.
England are the first side to record a clean sheet in the tournament in a game that only featured a combined total of 11 shots.
The cagey affair meant that Harry Kane, England’s captain and record goalscorer, had a very quiet outing.
In the first half he touched the ball just twice before eventually coming close with a header that Predrag Rajkovic tipped onto the bar in the 77th minute.
Carragher observed on social media that Kane was effectively playing the same role as Erling Haaland does for Manchester City.
Haaland stays high and occupies defenders to give space those behind him.
It was done by design, as Kane mentioned in his post-match interview with BBC.
Image: Getty
But Liverpool legend Carragher believes it needs to change to get the very best out of Kane, England’s most capped player at major tournaments.
“The problem with a player of Kane’s many abilities is that it reduces his effectiveness by 50 per cent. Kane is a multi-tasking, modern centre forward who was reduced to one-dimension during the 1-0 win over Serbia,” he wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
“If Southgate persists with the same system for the rest of the tournament, their No 9 will be heavily compromised. Possibly too much. Having come into the Euros with a Phil Foden conundrum, after one game Southgate has a Kane one.
In the first half, Kane registered just two touches of the ball. For a player of his class, that is deeply worrying.”
Kane touched the ball 24 times in the end and won a number of fouls to help his team see out the game late on.
Yet Carragher thinks the Bayern Munich striker has much more to his game to merely be a focal point and “old-fashioned battering ram”.
Image: Getty
He continued: “At his best, he is a goalscoring No 9, a false 9 and a creative No 10.
“Redefining him as a poacher to accommodate so many team-mates who want to occupy the deep, No 10 position will be the most contentious decision Southgate makes if England are unsuccessful.
“Kane is at his best when he is surrounded by pace. At the last three international tournaments, he liked to drop deep and supply passes to rapid wide strikers like Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling, or (when selected) Marcus Rashford.”
England return to action on Thursday when they take on Denmark in Frankfurt.
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Featured Image Credit: Getty & Sky Sports
Topics: Jamie Carragher, England, Gareth Southgate, Euro 2024, Harry Kane