England, without Harry Kane, struggled after losing to Japan at Wembley, but Thomas Tuchel protected the team’s reliance on the prolific Bayern Munich striker.
Harry Kane was absent as England lost to Japan
Manager Thomas Tuchel insisted it was “perfectly normal” for England to rely on Harry Kane, despite Bayern Munich’s struggle against Japan without their ace.
The English marksman was forced to watch the dominant Wembley match from the stands after sustaining an injury during training. Kane has been England’s number nine for a decade, with no clear back-up waiting in the wings.
England rarely missed games and were able to continue to rely on Kane, but Kane’s absence against Japan highlighted the lack of goals in Kane’s absence. But Tuchel defended his reliance on Bayern’s star player, who has already scored 48 goals this season.
The German claimed it was normal for teams to place such high importance on individual players, citing Argentina’s focus on Lionel Messi and Portugal’s focus on Cristiano Ronaldo.
He told ITV: “Why don’t Argentina rely on Messi? Why don’t Portugal rely on Cristiano Ronaldo? That’s completely normal and I think the key players left camp a little bit and we saw that a little bit too.”
read more: Arsenal’s ace struggles, but midfielder rises to the occasion after Japan’s defeat Evaluation of England players
“We probably lacked a bit of punch in the last 20 meters in both games, but that encouraged the players. It was difficult. In the first half we played too narrowly, but in the second half we were wider and more dynamic, we took more risks, we had more chances but we couldn’t convert.”
In Kane’s absence, Tuchel decided to use Phil Foden to fill the role of false nine, rather than simply replacing the Bayern star with another striker. Dominic Solanke sat on the bench, but the England manager thought there was nothing wrong with the system he had adopted. Foden played centrally with Morgan Rodgers, Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon supporting him, but it took England until over 70 minutes to have their first shot on target.
Manager Thomas Tuchel saw his team struggle in the final third without their record goalscorer
“On one side it was just a fake number nine, but on the other side it was a normal number nine,” Tuchel said. “We have to put it in perspective. It’s not the end of the world. It’s never good and we don’t like it, but it’s not a question of false nine or normal nine. It’s a question of performing, being assertive, winning one-on-one and being brave. We can do better, but it’s a well-drilled team we’re playing against, new formations and new players.”
Tuchel also dismissed the idea that some players are struggling to cope with the pressure of playing for England. The former Chelsea manager said: “I didn’t want to get involved in this discussion.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
