Soccer
Thomas Tuchel insists England’s lack of threat without Harry Kane is ‘normal’
Thomas Tuchel says it is natural England do not have the same threat without Harry Kane but is not overly concerned by a disjointed March meet-up that “will not define us”.
The back-to-back European Championship runners-up followed Friday’s stop-start 1-1 draw against Uruguay with an underwhelming 1-0 loss to Japan, via Kaoru Mitoma’s first-half goal, that led to boos from what remained of the Wembley crowd.
Tuchel experimented in both friendlies as he juggled injuries and tried to make the most of his final camp before naming his World Cup squad in eight weeks’ time, with the inability to create clear-cut chances an issue in both encounters.
Kane sat out the first match having arrived in the second wave of players for an international camp he ended watching from the stands, having sustained an issue in training on the eve of Tuesday’s friendly.
“In the absence of Harry Kane, we don’t have the same threat,” Tuchel said. “Bayern Munich in the absence of Harry Kane has not the same threat. No team in the world has the same threat. It is just normal.
“If top teams and nations rely on top players, that’s just absolutely normal.
“Harry dropped out so we lost not only him as a player but him as a personality. Always a bit disrupting if the captain leaves the last training after 15 minutes and is out of the squad.
“We lost Bukayo (Saka), Noni (Madueke), Declan Rice, we lost John Stones, who are normally the core and the drive of this group.
“They are the players who carry the quality, the momentum on their shoulders and of course it affected us. It is just normal, it is a reality.
“We can win games without Harry, we will win games without Harry, we have won without Harry, but it is easier to win matches with Harry.”
When a possible over-reliance on Kane was put to Tuchel with Pep Guardiola’s ‘Harry Kane team’ comment during the striker’s time at Tottenham, Tuchel said: “Of course I understand that. It is just the quality.
“We didn’t change the system against Uruguay and played with a number nine.
“Today we played with a different number nine with Phil Foden and later with Dom Solanke but I am not looking for a second Harry Kane. There is no second Harry Kane. This is also not an excuse.
“We were ready to beat Japan, to offer solutions to the team, but it was difficult. We struggled.
“On top, Jude (Bellingham) tried everything – a player who can always make something happen in a one-on-one, always happy to carry responsibility and make something special happen.
“We missed a lot of key players. It is just a reality that if teams like Uruguay or Japan come, well drilled with their top line-up, it is a difficult task.
“I hate losing like no one else. It will take a while to digest but it will not affect us massively for when we arrive in the US.”
Tuchel is keeping things in perspective after overseeing England’s first loss to an Asian side as his wait to beat a top-20 team continues.
“The most important is that we learn from it,” he added. “This camp will not define us, and we have two months to digest it, to take the learnings, to nominate our squad, to get players back healthy.
“Hopefully they stay healthy, so that we have the full choice, and then we will pursue our dream from June.”
