Jamie Carragher believes that Harry Kane has to contribute more to England’s play if the Three Lions are going to have a chance of winning the European Championships.
Kane got off the mark for the tournament in England’s 2-0 win over Germany on Tuesday evening after heading home Jack Grealish’s perfectly weighted cross four minutes from time.
England fans hope that will have boosted the Tottenham striker's confidence ahead of tonight’s crucial quarter-final clash with Ukraine in Rome, but Carragher thinks that he needs to do more than score if England are going to go any further in the competition, with the former Liverpool defender adding that he feels there is too much pressure on other players to perform.
“At the moment the rhetoric around him from a lot of people is that the other players are not creating chances and not getting him into the game enough,” he wrote on Sky Sports.
“He has got to do more himself. That is my problem with it. The onus is always on the other players. Harry Kane needs to do more himself.”
The Liverpool legend turned pundit insisted that Kane will put chances away if given the opportunity, but he hasn’t created enough for himself off the ball which is unlike his usual self.
“If Harry Kane is given chances he will score. He had one in the first half that he missed, one in the second half that he scored. I think most strikers would say that scoring one in two chances is pretty good. So I have no problem with that.
“[But] he has not created enough for himself. His pressing, I thought it was too easy for Mats Hummels on the ball. Also, getting involved in the game, getting on the ball, getting touches.”
However, because Kane is such an intelligent player, Carragher trusts that Gareth Southgate will get the best out of him in the next round.
“How often have I described him as streetwise?” he added.
“He is one of the most streetwise players in the Premier League and he gets criticised by opposition fans for that but I love it.
“Getting free-kicks, making it difficult for the opposition. This is what I am talking about, not so much about whether he has scored.
“I just hope we see a re-energised Harry Kane because I think the situation England are in now, they have a great chance of winning this.”
