"I’d have a cigar on" - Arsenal legend takes cheeky dig at England captain Harry Kane's lack of pace
Arsenal legend Tony Adams has criticized England striker Harry Kane for his inability to make dangerous runs behind the opposition's defense. The former England captain believes the Tottenham Hotspur forward is unable to do so owing to his lack of pace.
Adams wrote in his column for The Sun:
"He doesn’t get in behind the defence and he doesn’t face you up. He’s a link player who is going deeper and deeper to get the ball. Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling on either side of him do face people up and take the ball to them, but they’re not getting in behind either and there are no crosses coming in for Kane where he can be dangerous."
Will never take for granted what an honour it is to lead @England out at a World Cup. 🦁🦁🦁 https://t.co/cZO3TvrKuh
He added:
"We need Harry Kane, he is obviously one of the best strikers in the World, you only have to look at his numbers, but if I was a centre-back up against him in Qatar I’d have a cigar on.
"What I always feared was forwards with pace who could get in the spaces behind and force me to chase them. That scared the living daylights out of me, I hated it, but Kane doesn’t do that. And if he was running at me I’d be able to deal with that because he’s not going to have the pace to get round me."
Kane is yet to score a goal at the 2022 FIFA World Cup for the Three Lions. The Tottenham attacker failed to get his name on the scoresheet in England's dominant 6-2 victory over Iran on 21 November.
He was unable to find the back of the net in England's goalless draw with the USA in the subsequent fixture as well.
Although the England captain has not started firing on the international stage, he has been in exceptional goal-scoring form for his domestic outfit. The Tottenham skipper has scored 12 goals in 15 Premier League fixtures this season.
Tony Adams offers advice to England star Harry Kane
The Arsenal legend gave his two cents on how Kane must change his playing style for England. Adams believes the Tottenham star must refrain from dropping into the middle of the park and make blistering forward runs into dangerous areas instead.
In the aforementioned column for The Sun, he wrote:
"Harry’s 29 now and isn’t going to get any quicker so, like [Alan] Shearer, he needs players to feed him. Where I want to see Harry is on the edge of the box, holding the ball up, pivoting and laying it off the way Shearer could do and Alan Smith did for us at Arsenal."
"Then he has to get in the penalty area and hope we finally start putting some crosses in. That’s where I want to see him, not ten yards inside his own half. He’s no good to anyone there."
We know we can be better than we were tonight but a good clean sheet and we’re in a good position in the group. 🦁🦁🦁 https://t.co/18Sh3KhJY4
The Three Lions will face Wales in their last game in Group B on November 29.