Harry Kane forced to multi-task in blunted, one-paced England attack

Shortly before half-time at the Den Dreef Stadium Harry Kane could be seen scooting back into his own half to pick up the ball. Five seconds later he was hacked on the ankle while driving forward through the centre circle.

Ten seconds after that Kane was popping up in an inverted left-winger role, firing a cross-shot against the lunge of Jason Denayer.

Throughout this triptych of deep-midfield-Kane, playmaker-Kane and wide-attacker-Kane, it was hard not to look for another Kane at the edge of things: the ghost Kane, centre-forward Kane, saving his spring, sniffing out space, biding his time.

Instead, in a limp first half that all but settled England’s Nation’s League exit, the captain was forced to become Kane cubed, both pointlessly ever-present and depressingly dilute.

This was his 50th England appearance. Perhaps the FA will do the decent thing and award Kane his 51st and 52nd caps too, after a night in the Leuven suburbs where he ended up playing three simultaneous roles in a vain attempt to restore balance to a poorly configured attack.

Gareth Southgate had injuries and fatigue to contend with. The speed of Raheem Sterling or Marcus Rashford, both unavailable, might have shifted the texture of this game. The pacier Jadon Sancho started on the bench.

This is not to criticise the other England front players. Jack Grealish had an outstanding second half. Mason Mount is a fine, intelligent midfielder. But the game was lost in the opening half hour, and a starting selection that spiked England’s own guns, with nobody to stretch the opposition and make space for a clever pass or a decisive combination. Instead England settled down to eat their dinner with three forks, no knife and no spoon.

There has been a feeling that Southgate was unduly spooked by the defensive leakiness of last year, abandoning the dressier 4-3-3 and slipping back into the comfortable pyjamas of a back three and a deep midfield double pivot.

This is how England will try to win tournament games. Take the game deep. Attack sparingly, but with precision. It is a sensible approach, one that mirrors both the current world and European champions.

But it is also a question of degree, and of balance. England have failed to score in three of their five Nations League games, at a time when there is a glut of attacking talent to be weaponised by the right hands.

Another point worth noting: Kane hasn’t actually scored in five games this year, a run that coincides with the more cautious, double-bolted England style. Mask a weakness. But not at the expense of feeding a strength.

Here Southgate maxed out his fetish for defensive players, picking six of them plus a goalkeeper. The second highest goalscorer in this England XI was Eric Dier, with three.

Kane also walked out as England’s most established creator, raising the immediate prospect of Kane dropping deep to play off Kane, Kane linking neatly with Kane, the Kane-Kane partnership showing a near-telepathic understanding.

Early on Kane, Grealish and Mount sat in a flat front three. But they presented an obvious problem. The red shirts were happy to push up high from the back, reassured that England’s attack was unlikely to hare away and eat up those empty green spaces behind.

It was from this condensing of space that the opening goal came with 10 minutes gone. Dier played a poor pass forward out of defence. The ball was stolen by the press of red shirts, then fed on to Youri Tielemans. His shot was hard, low, deflected and never going anywhere but the bottom corner.

Kane heads the ball towards goal only to see Romelu Lukaku clear his effort off the line. Photograph: Eddie Keogh for The FA/REX/Shutterstock

Belgium were 2-0 up before long, Dries Mertens curling in a lovely free-kick. England meandered on. Kane popped up in midfield a lot. By the half hour mark the captain had already made 16 passes, which is, frankly, too many passes in this lineup.

England did improve markedly in the second half. The attack found a greater sense of urgency as Grealish ran like a dervish and drew seven fouls close to goal, a knack that shouldn’t be underestimated. Tournament matches are decided by such things.

But this game was already done, Belgium’s players preserving their legs for two more games for club and country this week, and hanging on despite some minor alarms.

England had been undone by that first half, by the lack of zip in their own forward line, and by a familiar note of strangulating caution. It is to be hoped the manager will learn from this and will ease his iron grip a little.

Southgate has presented his own paradox during his time in charge. Here is an England manager who keeps selecting youthful attacking talent, to an almost reckless degree – all the while putting out a succession of weirdly stodgy and defensive-minded teams.

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And so England’s international year ends with a blank. They came to Belgium looking to groove a method to beat the better teams. Instead they found a way to lose; albeit one that will, with any luck, inform Southgate’s planning from March. Nobody expects England’s roundhead to become a cavalier overnight. But energy is being wasted here, talent trapped by caution.

A final note on goalscoring, attacking as a team and Kane-dependencia. Mertens got his 22nd goal for Belgium in Leuven. Kevin De Bruyne has 19. Romelu Lukaku has a highly impressive 55 in 88 games, a tally that would make him England’s all-time leading goalscorer, aged 27 and at a lightning strike-rate. In Kane England have a genuinely fine goalscorer. But the sun also shines elsewhere.