Lee Carsley has revealed his reasoning for benching Harry Kane in England’s crucial Nations League clash against Greece on Thursday night.
England face a must-win game in Athens, as they look to bounce back from the 2-1 defeat they suffered at home tonight’s hosts and top the group.
Despite the magnitude of the match, Carsley has opted to start Ollie Watkins up-front, instead of Three Lions captain Kane, and later explained his decision.
He said: ‘It was important to give Ollie Watkins the opportunity. To experience a night like this is great for himself.
‘This team needs to try and create leaders and one way of doing that is giving them an opportunity.
Speaking on Kane, he said; ‘He’s fine. He wants to play. But his attitude has been fantastic since.
‘It’s important that we give players a chance and I’m sure Ollie will do really well tonight’.
Carsley can feel justified in his decision after Watkins scored just six minutes into the match. The Aston Villa striker provided a neat finish from close range to open the scoring.
The build-up to the game has been dominated by discussions around the numerous players who have pulled out of Carsley’s squad, for injury issues and other reasons.
Kane was quizzed on the situation ahead of the game, and on Wednesday it emerged that he had suggested some of his team-mates had ‘taken advantage’ of a congested club schedule.
Former England international striker Ian Wright, though, was seemingly not impressed by the England captain’s comments.
‘I was very surprised. We’re talking about somebody who has been in the trenches with those guys,’ he said on ITV’s pre-match coverage on Thursday evening.
‘Every England call-up is important and is an opportunity. We’re talking about a captain of a bunch of players, the team where Gareth had the group together, everything so strong.
‘Going from all unity in the squad, to then a few withdrawals, and then you’re hearing a lack of commitment (from Kane).
‘Again, the FA have chosen not to have their manager here for it. The FA have set a precedent for it.
‘But for Harry to say that about the players he’s been in the trenches with, two finals, the semi-finals of the World Cup, knowing the calibre of the players, to say he’s disappointed especially with the fixtures and the crazy amount of the games they have to play, it was a bit of a shock to me.’
Story by: Ebenezer Osei Kofi Bimpong.
AhotorSports, X @osei_gedo
