'He let England down' – Harry Kane's place in Three Lions XI ...
Harry Kane's role as a consistent starter for England should come into question after Euro 2024.
That's according to talkSPORT's Rory Jennings, who has suggested an interesting alternative attacking selection for the Three Lions.
4
Interim boss Lee Carsley will take charge of England for the first time on Saturday against the Republic of Ireland in the Nations League, live on talkSPORT, with Kane set to feature.
The Bayern Munich star is his country's record scorer on 66 goals and is eyed as one of the best strikers in world football.
However, despite finishing the joint-top scorer at Euro 2024 on three goals, talkSPORT's Jennings believes he fell short of expectations and his spot in the starting XI may not necessarily be a given.
Speaking on Thank Football It's Friday, his co-host Ade Oladipo looked ahead to the match against Ireland and said: "Obviously Harry Kane will lead the line, left and right side of him, obviously [Bukayo] Saka..."
"Should he, should he?" Jennings intervened, before Oladipo replied: "You know why he should? Because the other option is Ollie Watkins, who's had a disaster start to the season. So it's not like Ollie Watkins is actually pushing Kane at the moment is he?"
Despite this, Jennings said: "No, but do you think that... and I'm very new to this side of the fence. But do you think that there's any moment where we should actually start talking about Harry Kane?
"You know this given, that Harry Kane is in the team, Harry Kane is captain, you build the front line around Harry Kane, you get the ball to Kane and you hope for the best after that. At what point do we question this because, let's face it..."
"When another striker comes through and really kicks that door down, and we haven't had one," insisted Oladipo, but Jennings then proposed a new-look attack for England without a natural striker.
"No, but what you do have, I know he's not an option for this tournament so it's not quite the time for the conversation, but what you could do is you could potentially have Bukayo Saka on one side, you potentially have Phil Foden on the other side, and Cole Palmer plays through the middle.
"You can cut your cloth accordingly as the England manager can't you? You don't have to just go with Harry Kane who, let's face it, I know it's very harsh terminology, I didn't want to say, 'Let England down at the Euros,' but he let England down at the Euros, didn't he? I mean, he did. You know, I've been a huge defender of Harry Kane."
4
4
4
"Maybe let's not forget when Pep [Guardiola] played Phil Foden through the middle as a nine, so you could do that as well," said Oladipo.
Jennings agreed, and replied: "Yeah, I mean, Pep Guardiola has done this on countless occasions. Pep Guardiola won the league without a recognised centre forward, it's far harder to win the Premier League than it is a European championship."
After facing Ireland, England will host Finland at Wembley on Tuesday in their second match of the season's first international break.
Noni Madueke insists Chelsea is a great place to be despite ‘exaggerated’ noise around ‘great guy’ Enzo Maresca’s side
Should Kane feature in both games, he will become the tenth player in Three Lions history to earn 100 caps and therefore cement his status as a legend.
talkSPORT understands that former Ireland youngster Jack Grealish, who was not included in England's Euro 2024 squad, is set to start in Carsley's XI on Saturday.
Harry Maguire is also likely to start in defence alongside Levi Colwill, who may feature at left-back, with Morgan Gibbs-White also hopeful of being included from the beginning.
