England without Kane: Assessing the options | Euro 2020 Watch

In a worrying piece of news for England fans, Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho gave a dark hint this week that star striker and Three Lions captain Harry Kane may be sidelined until the start of 2020-21 with his recent hamstring injury.

Mourinho was clearly not certain in his assessment – stating that Kane could be back in April or May, but even if the best-case scenario happens, it means that the striker will only have a handful of games to get match-sharp before the start of Euro 2020.

In the worst-case scenario, England would head into the tournament without their talisman – who secured the 2018 World Cup’s Golden Boot when he scored 6 goals in his 7 matches during the tournament.

So what can Gareth Southgate do in the absence of Kane? He has a number of options – but if England want to win their first European Championship, he’ll need to hope he chooses the right one. Here are 4 potential solutions available to him.

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#1 The like-for-like replacement – Tammy Abraham

Chelsea's Tammy Abraham could be a like-for-like replacement for Kane

Okay, so Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham isn’t exactly the same sort of player as Harry Kane, but the two do have plenty of similarities. Both strikers are comfortable in front of goal and are great finishers, and they also prefer to play with their back to goal, holding the ball up and enabling his attacking teammates to get into the game before finding themselves on the end of crosses, through-balls or goalmouth scrambles.

To add to this, Chelsea have also primarily used a system with Abraham playing alongside two wide forwards at the tip of a front trio – essentially the same system used by England’s attack under Southgate since he switched to a 4-3-3 formation in late 2018. That means that he should be able to step into Kane’s shoes for the Three Lions with little issue adjusting to the system.

So would there be any drawbacks to using the Blues hitman as England’s first choice in the absence of Kane? Some would argue he’s still somewhat unproven; Abraham has scored an impressive 13 Premier League goals in 20 starts this season and also has two in Champions League action, but only one of those goals has come against one of the league’s ‘Big Six’, and he still misses a number of big chances, too.

But at 22 years old, Abraham is still a work in progress and as he continues to lead the line for Chelsea, he should continue to improve before the season ends. Based on this – assuming his goals don’t dry up – he could be the best option for Southgate in the absence of Kane.

#2 The safe option – Marcus Rashford

Can Marcus Rashford be effective from a central role?

Since the end of the 2018 World Cup and the switch to a 4-3-3 system, England have played just one competitive match without Harry Kane in the starting line-up; the UEFA Nations League semi-final loss to the Netherlands last June. In that game, rather than use an outright replacement for the Spurs man – Callum Wilson of Bournemouth, who was in the squad at the time – Southgate shifted Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford into a central spot, with Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho playing alongside him in the wide berths.

Of all of Southgate’s options, this would probably be considered the “safe” one. Not only did Rashford score in that game against the Netherlands – albeit from the penalty spot – but he’s got plenty of experience with England, having 38 caps and 10 goals to his name. Moving Rashford inside would also allow Southgate to play both the United man and Sancho, who has been in great form for Borussia Dortmund this season.

However, there’s a drawback; despite the protestations of some pundits, all of the evidence appears to point to a simple fact: Rashford is not as effective in a central position as he is when he plays as a wide forward. The 22-year old prefers to play off the shoulder of the opposition’s defence rather than with his back to goal like Kane, and the statistics appear to support this, too.

Rashford has 14 Premier League goals in 22 appearances for United this season, but while he’s scored 4 in his 9 appearances as a central striker, he’s managed 12 in 16 games as a left-sided wide forward. And in international action, he was clearly more comfortable playing out wide in his recent matches against Montenegro and Bulgaria than he was against the Netherlands last summer.

Moving Rashford into a central position would solve the issue of whether to start with him or Sancho, but it’d also make England’s system far less threatening to their opponents, and thus Southgate should probably avoid the temptation to play it safe.

#3 The wild card – Danny Ings

Danny Ings can't seem to stop scoring right now

One man who appears to have vaulted himself into England contention with his recent performances – despite not having an international cap since October 2015, when coincidentally, he replaced Kane in a match against Lithuania – is Southampton’s Danny Ings. With 14 Premier League goals to his name – half of them coming since the start of December – he’s undoubtedly England’s most in-form striker right now.

For years – even dating back as far as Glenn Hoddle’s reign as England boss – fans and pundits have stated that the Three Lions should pick their players on form, not reputation, and if that’s the case, then giving Ings his first call-up for nearly five years is a no-brainer.

The Saints hitman seemingly has everything you’d need to slot into Southgate’s side; he’s quick, strong, and his finishing instincts are absolutely fantastic. Not only is Ings a classic goal-poacher, but he’s also capable of surprising brilliance at times too, as we saw when he pulled off a goal reminiscent of Paul Gascoigne’s legendary strike against Scotland in Southampton’s recent win over Tottenham.

Before banking on Ings, though, it’s worth considering a couple of pointers. Firstly, outside of a single prolific season for Burnley in the Championship – back in 2013-14 – Ings has never been as prolific a striker as he appears to be now; he scored just 7 for Southampton last season, for instance. And while it’s true that a series of injuries curtailed his career at Liverpool, it could well be that his current hot streak is a purple patch that might fade away as quickly as it began.

To add to this, Ings has been playing as part of a front two for the Saints, often alongside Shane Long – who has been used to hold up the ball and allow Ings to dart into the box to score his goals. This wouldn’t be an option for England, who would rather look to Ings to hold the ball up in order to bring wide forwards like Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho into the attacking play.

The Saints hitman has certainly earned an international recall; he’s more worthy of a call-up than Callum Wilson, for instance, as the Bournemouth man hasn’t scored a league goal since September, but is he the solution to an England side without Harry Kane? Likely not – instead he’d be better as a dangerous option from the bench.

#4 The returning veteran – Jamie Vardy

Could Southgate tempt Jamie Vardy out of international retirement?

Despite the tremendous form this season of Abraham, Rashford and Ings, none of the three currently stand as the top English goalscorer in the Premier League. Neither does that spot belong to Harry Kane – who was actually behind all three prior to his injury. Instead, Leicester’s Jamie Vardy has outscored all of them, with a tremendous 17 goals putting him in pole position in the race for the Golden Boot.

So surely it makes sense for Southgate to simply deploy the Foxes man for the Three Lions? Well, there’s a small issue with that – the fact that Vardy chose to retire from international football following the conclusion of the 2018 World Cup.

At the time, the move appeared to make sense; despite only breaking onto the international scene in 2015, Vardy was 32 years old and like many other senior players, felt stepping away from England duty would help to prolong his club career. Given the Leicester striker had never been the first choice for his country, nobody really begrudged his decision.

That appears to have changed now, however, with the advent of Kane’s injury and Vardy being in his best form since his legendary 2015-16 season. Vardy did state that he no longer wished to be considered for England selection “unless there was an injury crisis” – so does Kane’s absence class as such, and should Southgate beg the Leicester man to return in time for the Euros?

Perhaps – but there are a number of other issues to take into account when it comes to Vardy. Firstly, it must be remembered that while his Leicester form has been phenomenal this season, the Foxes’ whole system is largely designed around him as their key player. The striker plays primarily as a lone wolf upfront at the King Power Stadium, something that wouldn’t happen for England.

To add to that, Southgate also prefers his Three Lions side to play out from the back, setting up their attacks from deeper areas than Leicester’s swifter, more direct approach. That’s primarily why Vardy could never fully establish himself ahead of Kane prior to his retirement – and it’s largely why, despite his stunning form, it’d probably be better for Southgate to leave the Foxes striker retired, and focus on his younger talent.

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