PASSING THEM BY
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham in intense video session after passing to each other just TWICE in last two England games
Top manager gives his take on the idea of Kane being dropped
HARRY KANE and Jude Bellingham have been watching videos of how they are struggling to connect together at Euro 2024.
England’s best two players have often combined to devastating effect.
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The last-16 World Cup game against Senegal 18 months ago, the friendly away to Scotland and Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy last autumn are just a few examples.
But in the draws against Denmark and Slovenia, Kane and Bellingham were not on the same wavelength.
Incredibly, in each game they exchanged passes just once.
Bellingham, in particular, was a frustrated figure against Slovenia — but he was all smiles yesterday.
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At their team meeting before training, the England squad and manager Gareth Southgate sang happy birthday to both the Real Madrid midfielder, who was 21, and Eberechi Eze, who turned 26.
Bellingham then produced a few demon deliveries when some of the players had a quick game of cricket before the training session started.
Against Slovakia let’s hope Bellingham can be just as impressive on the pitch as he was in the first half of the 1-0 win over Serbia in the opening game.
Kane said: “From a captain’s point of view, I am always talking to all of the players — and with Jude we are always talking about how we can improve.
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“We watched clips of the Denmark game to see how we can play better.
“We would have liked to have played better and had more of a connection. But I still feel like the movements are there.
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“The relationship is still fairly new. Even though we have played a bit together, there’s still things we can both do better. We’re hoping that as the tournament goes on, we grow more and more.
“From Jude’s point of view, he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing.
“In the first game he was man of the match — and in the last couple of games none of us have reached the level we really wanted.
“It’s two games. It isn’t the end of the world. I know things are being heightened and there will be a lot of talk but that’s part and parcel of playing for England in a major tournament.
“Jude has dealt with that unbelievably well for his age. He’s dealt really well with going to Real Madrid.
“So there’s no worries about Jude. He’s a great guy, he believes in himself 100 per cent.
“From both of our points of view, we want to go out there and start stepping up our levels.”
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Although some would like Bellingham to drop deeper and play alongside Declan Rice, allowing the introduction of Anthony Gordon or Cole Palmer, Bellingham is likely to stick with the same role today.
Kobbie Mainoo coming in for Conor Gallagher should be the only change.
England were better in the 0-0 stalemate against Slovenia than in the 1-1 draw with the Danes but still not clinical up front.
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Asked whether the blend at the top of the pitch is working, Kane insisted: “I’d say it is improving. I’d say the last game was definitely our best even though it was 0-0.
“In the final third, it didn’t quite click for one reason or another but I think we got into good areas and on another day it could have been a 1-0 or 2-0 result.”
Talk of dropping Harry Kane is absurd, says Jurgen Klinsmann
NO manager in the world will really care about how many touches their centre-forward has, writes Jurgen Klinsmann.
It’s being widely flagged up that Harry Kane has not seen much of the ball in England’s first two matches but this is not, in itself, going to be a concern for Gareth Southgate.
It’s a nice thing for the stats fanatics to go on about — and there are obviously more and more of them in and around football.
But not all statistics are helpful and this one doesn’t mean a great deal.
Harry has scored one goal, and so nearly two, in two games. It’s not as if he hasn’t been involved at all.
Everybody in England needs to calm down a little about the captain.
Some are even suggesting that he should be dropped or rested for tomorrow’s final group game against Slovenia — but that is totally absurd.
Please stop worrying. He will come good. He always does.
Read Jurgen Klinsmann thoughts on Harry Kane's struggles in full.
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