“England paid the price” for Harry Kane “thinking about goals and the Golden Boot” at the 2022 World Cup, according to Graeme Souness.
The Three Lions were beaten by finalists France in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
In the defeat, Kane missed a penalty while his side were losing by one goal, yet this is not why Souness thinks he cost England.
The former Liverpool captain reckons Kane needed to be substituted in the opening match against Iran after suffering a knock to his ankle.
The Tottenham striker carried on before being later substituted, and Souness has hinted that Kane’s desire to finish as top scorer at the tournament hindered England.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, Souness praised defender Harry Maguire, who is “capable” of breaking back into Manchester United’s starting XI, before criticising Kane’s performance in Qatar.
“I have to say, I am also pleased for Harry Maguire. He was much maligned going into the tournament by people who find it easy to criticise,” the Scottish pundit said.
“He is far better than some folk make out.
“He had a very good World Cup and the challenge for him now is to dislodge one of the centre-halves at Man United, Raphael Varane or Lisandro Martinez. I think he is more than capable of doing that.”
Souness continued: “But England’s other Harry, 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 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 USA, Wales and beyond.
“England paid the price.”
While Souness did not praise Kane here, he is clearly a fan of Maguire, who performed admirably for England in Qatar.
Maguire’s time at Old Trafford has been pretty tough. He was named captain under Ole Gunnar Solksjaer but has found himself on the bench following Erik ten Hag’s appointment as manager.
Ten Hag brought in Lisandro Martinez in his first summer at the club and the Argentine has developed a solid partnership in the heart of the defence with Raphael Varane.
Maguire does have a huge task to become a…
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