Interesting point of view. He had a penalty saved, certainly - albeit by a keeper who was a yard off his line (what are linesmen for in that situation if they can’t even see that?). But he scored a good goal; held the ball up and linked play well; played a part in at least one other goal; created one or two good opportunities for others. I’m not saying that he was outstanding. But to say that he was “abysmal” betrays a staggering level of bias.
I don’t believe that you are!
I think you are seeing what you want to see. You see any instance of Kane not doing what you’d like him to do (in an England shirt) and your confirmation bias kicks in. When he does something good, you either ignore it or diminish its importance. Your persistent belittling of him - Kane(pen) - gives the lie to any protestations of neutrality.
Take Kane’s opening goal against Bulgaria, for instance. All I read on here from myriad posters was that it was all Sterling’s work; that it was merely a tap in for Kane. Yet anyone who really understands football knows that that couldn’t be further from the truth. It was Kane’s pressing of the keeper in the first instance that forced the mistake that allowed Sterling to intercept. Sterling subsequently did brilliantly but it would have been for nought had Kane’s movement to lose his marker not been so good.
Even last night, Kane’s goal was interpreted by many on here as all Sterling’s work - despite Kane having to get past a defender and beat the keeper from a tight angle. The “selfish” Kane was also given little credit for unselfishly setting up Sterling for the latter to hit the post and no credit at all, a minute or so later, for the fantastic run that created the space for Sterling’s next chance that was deflected just wide*. As to Kane not tracking back, I saw him do so on multiple occasions last night.
It seems to me that, rightfully aggrieved by the treatment that Sterling has received from the media, you’re wrongheadedly retaliating by being similarly unfair about a player who you perceive to be the media’s darling. You might not have gone so far as to delve into Kane’s personal life but you do repeatedly call his character into question - ‘selfish’, ‘egotistical’, ‘lazy’ etc.
I will concede that Kane isn’t currently playing to his full potential. He has suffered a lot of injuries over the past year or two and he seems to have lost a yard of pace that he has yet to recover. It makes him easier to mark. The injuries have also affected his overall output. At his best, he worked his socks off - pressing and tackling. He’s doing less of that now, again since the injuries, but it is woefully wide of the mark to suggest that he doesn’t do it at all.
As to the rest, he has a brilliant eye for and execution of a pass (short or long). His movement in and around the box is very clever. And he is, for me, the best pure finisher in the game at the moment. Bar none. Right foot; left foot; head; long range; short range. Such a variety of goals, so consistently, against every level of opposition.
*Just to be clear, I’m not criticising Sterling for failing to score on either occasion. He was fantastic last night and against Bulgaria.
