Jose Mourinho thinks Harry Kane deserves credit for his performance for England against Croatia, despite the striker receiving some criticism.
Kane endured somewhat of an off-day by his usual standards, but the Tottenham centre-forward had more of an impact than some people think, according to his former boss Mourinho.
In the lead up to Raheem Sterling 's only goal of the game, Kalvin Phillips picked up the ball and Kane's run distracted Domagoj Vida and pulled him away, allowing more space for the eventual goal scorer.
This is something Mourinho picked up on when analysing the match, saying that the Spurs striker's impact goes way beyond the on-the-ball side of the game.
"I think Harry did half of the job without touching the ball," Mourinho told talkSPORT after the match.
"This kind of striker, without touching the ball, they create problems for a defender.
"What happened to Vida was instead of giving cover to the position of Raheem’s run, he was chasing Harry’s movement. So Harry without touching the ball he did half of the job.
"And of course Kalvin Phillips made the run, he was composed, he saw Harry’s movement, he did not pass the ball to Harry and then saw the space and played that ball."
Mourinho then went on to compare Kane with Wayne Rooney and Karim Benzema for their impact out of possession
The new Roma manager said: "There are the strikers that, when they don’t score, they still play. And Harry is one of these strikers.
"It’s Harry, it’s Benzema, it is this kind of striker that they could be a striker, they could be a number 10, they could even be a midfield player.
"Look a little bit like Wayne Rooney, he was a striker, then he moved to be a number 10, and then in some periods he was even a midfield player.
"These guys, they have more than the finishing skills, more than the appetite just to score goals.
"And that movement shows everything. Without touching the ball he opened the gap and Sterling made the run, like Son (Heung-min) at Tottenham did that run so many times."
Kane was brought off after 82 minutes of the 1-0 win at Wembley Stadium. The 27-year-old collided with the post in the second-half and looked in some discomfort, but played on before eventually being replaced by Gareth Southgate.
