Roy Keane destroys Harry Kane with damning assessment on striker’s transfer plan
Roy Keane claims England cannot win Euro 2020 with a ‘distracted’ Harry Kane amid claims the striker has his mind on a move away from Tottenham this summer.
Kane put in a tired display for the second time this tournament, as Scotland secured a 0-0 draw at Wembley on Friday. The Three Lions boss took his captain off in the second half. That’s after he mustered just 10 touches in the first half. Indeed, he completed just 63% of his passes when he was eventually withdrawn for Marcus Rashford.
And despite his fellow forward’s introduction, England could not find the all-important winner.
And while Raheem Sterling was also way below his best, the lack of cohesion from Kane looks a serious concern. In two games now at Euro 2020, he’s yet to have a shot on target.
Now Keane says Kane needs to pull his finger out if England are to have any chance of glory.
“He doesn’t look up to speed,” Keane said on ITV. “He’s on his heels all the time and if England really want to compete in this competition, you need your star men to perform.
“We’ve seen [Romelu] Lukaku turn up, [Kevin] De Bruyne, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, they need Kane at his best.
“I’m glad Gareth [Southgate] took him off. There’s talk about him being undroppable, he’s the main man, if he’s not performing, get him off. Rashford gave them a little bit more energy, but still not enough.”
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Keane has also suggested Kane is likely to be distracted by talk around his future.
Kane, 27, revealed last month he’s frustrated by a lack of silverware and is open to leaving Tottenham. Both Manchester giants are being mentioned as suitors, while Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid were also touted as possible destinations.
As such, Keane reckons the speculation is playing on his mind.
“Before the competition, there was all the talk of him might be leaving Spurs. Maybe he’s been distracted by that because that can be an energy zapper,” Keane went on.
“If you thinking you’re moving clubs or if you’re in talks with other clubs, that’s not helpful.”
His assessment of Kane was also agreed with by Graeme Souness.
“Harry doesn’t look himself, he looks shady and looks tired,” said Souness.
“This is a guy who’s hoping to get a big move this summer, he needs to wake himself up. He came off in the first game, is he carrying something? Because he looks a shadow of himself.
“He’s England’s one player who has proven at this level to get goals on a regular basis and if that’s not happening in this competition – you’re not going very far.
“Without Harry Kane – football isn’t coming home with that team, I can tell you, not the way they’re playing.”
Southgate explains Kane substitution
Speaking to ITV Sport in his post-match interview, Southgate faced a probing on why he took Kane off.
“”I just felt that we needed a few more runs in behind, we felt Marcus would give us that energy and we’ve got to try and get the win at that point,” he said.
“But we have to make these decisions based on what we see.”
Asked to name what Kane was missing from his game after scooping the Premier League’s top scorer and top assister awards last season, Southgate insisted that there is more to it than the striker’s own form.
“Well, we can look at ourselves, it starts with me,” he added.
“We know we didn’t do enough to win tonight, not enough attempts on goal, so that’s something we’re going to look at over the next couple of days.”
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