Kane doesn’t need to score for England

Striker is being unfairly judged as a new Lineker because there is more to his game than goals

Harry Kane is still the key to England’s attempt to end a 56-year wait for international glory, but there is one measure by which he should not be judged at this World Cup: goals.

That statement sounds bizarre, given Kane is on the verge of becoming the nation’s record goalscorer, certain to eclipse Wayne Rooney in far fewer games.

But Kane does not need to challenge for the Golden Boot to have a brilliant tournament and the sooner the country appreciates that, the fairer assessments of his performances will be.

The time has long passed when Kane was in Gareth Southgate’s starting XI solely for his finishing. That is still a crucial part of his game, of course. There is no other England player you would want bearing down on goal with the game on the line than Kane.

If Kane gets on a goalscoring run, England’s chances of going far are obviously enhanced. Nevertheless, history will judge him to be a great footballer, not just a great goalscorer.

Too often, it feels like Kane is being wrongly judged as if he is Gary Lineker and in the team for one reason.

Whenever Kane fails to score, the overriding view seems to be he is off form and “needs a goal”. Whenever he is on target, the majority say all is well in his world again. Watching Kane over the past four years, I have had no worries about what he will do in the penalty area. Doubt his scoring capabilities and he is likely to make you look a fool with a hat-trick in his next game.

My interest nowadays is in how sharp and effective he looks outside the box.

At the start of his career, Kane played on the shoulder of the last defender like a traditional No9 and saw the 18-yard box as his main hunting ground. Today he retreats to play as a “false nine” or even more like a No10. At his best, he thrives as a creator as much as a scorer.

There is a fascinating contrast between Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo as they have taken opposite routes to deal with their loss of pace and energy as they age.

Ronaldo is now only about goals. If he does not score, it is difficult for a coach to know what to do with him – hence the fallout with Erik ten Hag and the end of his Manchester United career.

In contrast, Kane’s all-round game is better than ever as he has been forced to compromise the “selfish” pursuit of goals. He wants to be involved in the build-up because he understands he no longer has the pace or stamina to keep sprinting beyond defences.

Yes, Kane can still go on a goal blitz in Qatar, but he has a wider function in a team where the onus is on the wide attackers to offer the most consistent goal threat.

Since the last Euros, the simplistic assessment of Kane’s contribution in an England shirt based on his goalscoring form has led to him being criticised or praised for the wrong reasons.

My columns during Euro 2020 focused on Kane’s contribution and his evolving role, and they caused a stir – especially once the goals started to flow. With the exception of England’s impressive win over Ukraine, my view was Kane had a poor Euros because he did not perform well enough in general play. We did not see Tottenham’s Harry Kane, regardless of his respectable tally of four goals. He did not make one assist in seven games in the Euros. As with this World Cup, that is the criteria upon which my analysis of his contribution to the team’s balance is based.

After the Euro 2020 group games against Croatia and Scotland, I went so far as to suggest Southgate should consider leaving Kane out – or resting him – because he looked low on energy and physicality. A few days later he scored in the round-of-16 win over Germany and there was a predictable backlash.

“Kane is back,” was the reaction. In fact, Kane had another poor game in general play that day, the late second he scored in the 2-0 win disguising it.

He was excellent in the quarterfinal against Ukraine, but the problems resurfaced in the final. Since that defeat by Italy the bulk of analysis has focused on Southgate’s inability to change the game from the bench. While that has merit, it ignored that Kane’s performance was one of the manager’s biggest headaches.

When England meet stronger nations, especially if they go one up, as they did against Italy and had done against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semi-final, they should be equipped to counterattack with deadly speed.

For that, they need Kane to do what he does for Spurs, be the perfect link as the team turn defence into attack. That did not happen in 2018 or last year.

Southgate has a problem if Kane underperforms because there is no other striker in his squad with his qualities. The manager’s dilemma in both those losses was whether to substitute Kane.

Yes, in retrospect you might argue that was a solution. In reality, would the nation have been so forgiving if the man who is about to be England’s greatest ever international goalscorer was subbed? Especially when a penalty shoot-out loomed against Italy.

There is no English striker better at holding the ball, winning free-kicks to relieve defensive pressure or bringing others into play, and I have long argued Kane is as good as any passer in the Premier League, and the best in the England squad. His ability to see and weigh the perfect ball to an advancing team-mate is second to none. Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka have benefited from his assists in this World Cup.

Those contributions are the truest measure of where Kane’s game is. It bodes well for tomorrow’s meeting with Senegal and, hopefully, the rest of the competition. This underlines why there is an obsession with Kane’s form and why Southgate will not contemplate starting without him.

For many years, Kane has been one of my favourite Premier League players, and my admiration for him has only increased because of how he has restructured his game, and effectively reinvented himself to remain world class.

Like any striker, Kane lives for goals. No one will be hungrier to break their duck in this World Cup, and it will help the rest of his game if and when that happens.

He has had only four shots in Qatar. He will want more for himself and the country. But while he is contributing to the team as much as he is, England can still go far with Kane as either the goal or assist king.