Is this surprising? Maybe not. When Rashford burst on to the scene before Euro 2016 his hopes of playing as a central striker were blocked by Kane. Since then he has had his development stifled by Manchester United’s managerial strife, struggled with injuries and continued to have his chances of playing as a central striker blocked by Kane. Conclusion: not surprising.
Nonetheless, that we are still waiting for a Kane-Rashford partnership to burst into life is a bit of a waste. Functioning properly, it has the potential to make England far more dangerous as they head into their last-16 match with Senegal on Sunday.
The thinking is not that this would be akin to Teddy Sheringham’s and Alan Shearer’s combination at Euro 96, where one player drops into the hole to feed a central striker. Few sides play with a front two now. The only way for England to do it would be by switching from four at the back to three and even then the likelihood is there would be two wide forwards flitting around Kane.
The options are varied. Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling were on the flanks for England’s first two World Cup games. James Maddison and Jack Grealish are in reserve. Mason Mount had a good game against Iran and a disappointing one against the USA. Phil Foden started and scored against Wales. Kane will no doubt be fuming after going through the group stage without edging closer to Wayne Rooney’s record of 53 England goals.
This story is from the December 01, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the December 01, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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