Ian Wright has admitted that he was surprised by the pace Harry Kane showed against Germany and called on Gareth Southgate to take the shackles off England’s frontline.
England’s Nations League clashes against Italy and Germany, which were the last two games ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, posed more questions than answers for the Three Lions.
They fell to a 1-0 defeat to Italy in Milan, struggling to create any clear-cut chances in the encounter and it took two goals from Germany at the start of the second half to jolt them into action on Monday, with the game eventually ending in a 3-3 draw.
Gareth Southgate’s men did show the quality they have going forward in the final 20 minutes of the clash against the Germans, with Kane being involved in some tidy interchanges with the other forwards.
Wright called on Southgate to allow Kane and England’s other attackers to express themselves in the final third.
When asked about the chances that England were able to create in the latter part of the clash at Wembley, the former Arsenal striker said on Wrighty’s House Podcast: “This is what I said, let them free. Let them cook. Give them some food.
“Did you see Harry Kane showing pace as well?
“Gareth’s getting stick and he’s got us to a semi-final of a World Cup and he has got us to a final of the Euros. And we have got there and he’s still getting hammered.
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“Then you think to yourself ‘why don’t you just let your shackles off?’ Let them play! Why are we passing backwards and sideways, when we can pass it into them?!”
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I believe that Southgate fears that England’s defence is nowhere near as strong as their attack.
So, he seems to believe that the team’s best chance of getting results is to be solid at the back and restrict the opposition’s goalscoring opportunities, in the hope that Kane and co will get a couple of goals even if they are feeding off scraps.
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