Wayne Rooney had long held the title as the last member of the Golden Generation but with the years finally starting to bite the forward’s grasp on it has long been loose. Since the disappointment of the 2014 World Cup it’s been unclear who would step up to take the mantle. Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, and Jamie Vardy have all flirted with it. Dele Alli looks set to challenge his Tottenham teammate for the next decade, but right now it’s Kane. Since the start of the 2014–15 season the 23-year old has scored 94 goals in 139 games in all competitions. In the process he’s transformed from serial Championship loanee to one of the most feared strikers in Europe, and cemented his status as the most natural finisher England has produced since Michael Owen.
Unlike Owen, he’s yet to translate his talent to the international stage. Having scored in the first two minutes of his England debut he has only scored four more in 17 appearances. Against Scotland on Saturday Kane will be looking to make amends.
It is not unusual for players to struggle to replicate their club form when representing their country. Even more so for strikers, where rhythm and confidence are such crucial components. Kane has shown that he is not immune to these factors. In both of the last two seasons he has started slowly, taking time to build up a head of steam before Christmas and then hitting full stride in the New Year and outscoring his competition. He closed out the 2016–17 campaign in some style, smashing eight goals in his last three games. Gareth Southgate will be hoping that his star striker has not gone cold again in the weeks since.
Kane’s struggles may in part be down to the inconsistent nature of international football. Kane has been crow-barred into a variety of systems in the past two years in the expectation that his quality will shine through. He’s lined up as a lone striker, as part of a two with a variety of partners, and now potentially in an attacking trio in a 3–4–3 formation. Sides have rarely been built around him.
With Wayne Rooney being eased out of international consideration, and Jamie Vardy regressing to the mean, Kane is no longer the understudy waiting for his chance, he must take centre stage as the senior striker in the side. It is a role he has embraced for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, Southgate will hope for the same, but must also give Kane the platform to excel.
In a squad light on proven firepower, Kane’s five goals makes him the second highest scorer— level with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The 34-year old Jermaine Defoe is the only player in double figures for his country, his 20 goals more than the remaining squad members combined. He’s not a player that England can even expect to perform in Russia, let alone tournaments further ahead. Marcus Rashford must still be given time to develop in his own time. Dele Alli will continue to grow in responsibility and dovetail with Kane and provide another key source of goals for England, but for the moment his Tottenham team-mate stands alone as the man England fans will look to for goals.
With his corner taking days behind him he is England’s man for right now and must start showing that he’s England’s best player, not just the Premier League’s best English player.
