Graeme Souness believes England made a “big mistake” in how they handled Harry Kane’s injury at the World Cup. He also believes the Tottenham Hotspur star was unfocused.
The Three Lions captain started all five of England’s games in Qatar, helping Gareth Southgate’s team reach the quarter-finals. He also played 403 minutes but only had two goals and three assists. Kane also scored a penalty during England’s 2-1 loss to France.
Southgate had no intention of removing Kane from England’s starting lineup for the World Cup despite the fact that the 29-year-old suffered an ankle injury 48 minutes into the opening game against Iran when Morteza Pouraliganji caught Kane with a poor challenge.
Kane kept on playing until the 78th minute with the injury and then was declared fit to start in their match against USA just a few days later but it was evident that Spurs striker was struggling with injury.
Southgate finally gave the striker a much due rest against Wales, taking him off after 57 minutes.
He was then back in the starting line up against Senegal and France, scoring both times. However, Souness believes England should have been more cautious and arrived earlier.
He wrote in his column for Daily Mail:
“Kane was not so good in Qatar.”
“I said he had to have a very good tournament for England to win it. He was poor. Was the reason for that the ankle injury he sustained in the 43rd [48th] minute in the opener against Iran?
“They made a big mistake by leaving him on the pitch until the 76th minute. They were 3-0 up, get him off! Especially given his history of ankle problems.
“Sometimes, players need protecting from themselves. It’s about the bigger picture, about him being right for future games. But Harry was thinking about goals and the Golden Boot instead of thinking [about the] USA, Wales and beyond. England paid the price.”
With six goals in six games, Kane won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. But in Qatar, he only scored once in the group stage, on a tap-in, three penalties, and a deflected effort.
