England Number 9 and Captain Harry Kane is not hungry for goals in this World cup but he looks rather focused on build up play and getting positive results for the team. Kane was the best Striker in 2018 at Russia, scoring 6 goals and winning the Golden boot but this time around Spurs’ highest goalscorer of all time has found the back of the net only once.
It looks as if Kane is not bothered about it either as Gareth Southgate‘s shape shifting tactic has suited him very well. Until now England have scored the most number of goals in the World cup (12) and they have 8 different goal scorers, so dependency on Kane for the goals have certainly lowered for the good.
The Three lions look like the most complete team after Brazil and they are one of the favorites of this year’s bid for the WC trophy. Despite the lack of goals from Harry Kane’s boots, he has been vital for his team’s success. England have performed beyond expectations with Kane being the catalyst. It will be fair to say that he has been even more vital and a major contributor than he was during England’s run to the 2018 World cup Semi-final.
He has registered the highest number of assists (3) in this world cup and after Leroy Sane he has the highest expected xG assists with 1.5 per match. With Germany heading out of the world cup from the group stages, Kane has the highest assist expectation. Since David Beckham in 2002, he is the first member of the Three Lions to record three assists within a single World Cup competition. No Englishman has ever contributed four goals in a single major tournament, according to records (since 1966). That’s still another record that could be broken on Saturday.
Harry Kane’s first goal came against Senegal at the Round of 16 which doubled England’s lead by 2-0 at that time. With that goal he overtook Gary Lineker’s tally as the most brilliant player in major tournaments and he is just one goal shy of Wayne Rooney’s record. If we breakdown England’s first goal against Senegal, Harry Kane’s movement off the ball was tremendous.
Kane moves to the left side of the field as England builds up their left flank, dragging Kalidou Koulibaly behind him. Due to the space between the center backs created by this, Jude Bellingham attacks from there. In an effort to contain Bellingham, Senegal’s left-sided center back has been moved to the right flank for the defending AFCON winners.
Jordan Henderson and Bukayo Saka are the only players left for the right defender to manage. The only reason this occurs is because Kane dips during the build-up. The defensive line was broken up, allowing the midfield runners to take advantage of the openings. Kane, however, receives no credit for that part of the game because he neither assists nor scores.
In terms of chances created for a shot only Luke Shaw (14) has the highest number of involvements in open play sequences as compared to Kane with 11 chances. The 29-year-old is not always involved in possession but when he does, he punishes the opposition. He has been involved in 33% of goals scored by the three lions in this World cup.
With that being said, England are all set to face defending champions France in a bid to qualify for the Semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World cup. It wont be an easy task for them but they can go toe-to-toe against Les Blues.
Also Read – 3 reasons why Germany exited from the Group stages of FIFA World cup 2022
