Thomas Tuchel has jumped to defend his England team’s perceived over-reliance on Harry Kane, likening the striker’s influence to that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The skipper was forced to watch from the sidelines during the Three Lions’ 1-0 friendly loss to Japan at Wembley on Tuesday due to a minor injury sustained during training.
Tuchel has a lot of questions ahead of the World Cup after the dismal defeat at Wembley, which came after a chaotic 1-1 draw with Uruguay last week.
England were unable to establish a cutting edge as their captain watched from the stands.
See Also: Man United Star Tipped To Become ‘One Of The World’s Best’
Phil Foden, a star player for Manchester City, was used as a false nine but was unable to make an impression. Earlier attempts to replace Bayern Munich star Kane with Dominic Solanke and Dominic Calvert-Lewin also failed.
When asked if the squad are too dependent on their 32-year-old captain, Tuchel pointed towards the world’s greatest ever players to prove his point.
Tuchel Defends England While Hailing Kane
“Well, why would Argentina not rely on Messi or Portugal not rely on Cristiano Ronaldo?” Tuchel said on ITV as quoted by Goal.
“This is totally normal. Key players left camp for us, key figures. We saw that a bit. We lacked a punch in the last 20 metres in both matches.
“In the absence of Harry Kane, we don’t have the same threat. Bayern Munich in the absence of Harry Kane has not the same threat. No team in the world has the same threat.”
COMMENTS