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For Harry Kane, it is a numbers game and they keep on coming. The England captain has 23 goals in 17 appearances for Bayern Munich this season, while for his country it is three in four. If he scores against Albania here on Sunday, he would equal Pelé’s record in international football. Kane has 76 goals from 111 caps. The Brazil legend finished with 77 from 92. One more detail: Kane has failed to score in only six matches for club and country this season.
It is a time of excitement and possibility. Bayern are laying waste everyone, winning 16 of their 17 games, the only blot coming last Saturday when they drew at Union Berlin; Kane saved them from defeat with a late equaliser. They are fancied to win the Champions League plus everything in Germany.
Most important for Kane, most tantalising, there is the World Cup next summer when England will be among the favourites. Their record in qualification has seen to that – seven wins out of seven, with seven clean sheets. The Albania game is the final one. England guaranteed their place at the finals after match number six.
It did not feel incongruous to ask Kane about the Ballon d’Or, how he felt about his chances of winning the prestigious individual award. His answer spoke volumes about his mindset.
“I could score 100 goals this season, but if I don’t win the Champions League or the World Cup, you’re probably not going to win the Ballon d’Or,” he said. “It’s the same with [Erling] Haaland, it’s the same with any player. You have to be winning those major trophies. We’re in great shape at Bayern Munich so that maybe makes the odds a little bit more in my favour. Same with England.
“Hopefully, if things go my way for club and country then I’m definitely going to be in the conversation for a trophy like the Ballon d’Or.”
Team glory is everything and in terms of England Kane believes the squad is in the right place under Thomas Tuchel, having suffered a blip this time last year. It was when Lee Carsley was in caretaker charge and the squad was undermined by withdrawals for the must-win Nations League game against Greece in Athens.
Kane worried the culture instilled by Gareth Southgate was in danger of ebbing away. It is now back to its most robust, nobody wanting to be seen to look for an excuse. Tuchel has spoken about creating a “competition where if a player pulls out of a 50-50 situation, the door will be closed as someone else will take the shirt”.
For Tuchel, squad chemistry and the commitment to the collective is fundamental, even more so than team selection and tactics. So it was hard to ignore the example of Marc Guéhi in the week. The Crystal Palace defender had picked up an injury against AZ Alkmaar on the Thursday before last and according to his club manager, Oliver Glasner, could not walk and “if he arrives with crutches for England, they will send him home”.
Guéhi reported for duty and was a part of the meetings leading up to Thursday’s 2-0 Wembley win over Serbia, if not the training sessions. Only on Friday did he withdraw.
“Yes, 100%,” Kane said when asked whether England had the culture to win the World Cup. “It’s better than where we were last year. There was a transition stage with new managers and temporary managers with Lee. So there is maybe room for a little bit of an excuse there. But representing your country is the biggest honour and, when you’re trying to build a culture and a winning mentality, you need the players there as much as possible. Every moment is important.
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“We’re trending in the right direction on the pitch and off it. You can see with this camp … Marc had a little injury, but still wanted to be around the group and the meetings and learn from what we’re trying to do. I definitely think the team is in a really good place going into the new year.”
It is clear Kane has grown as a vocal leader in the past 18 months or so. He spoke calmly but incisively at Euro 2024 about the criticism from former England players, while his comments about the withdrawals for the Greece game were similarly hard-hitting. It is also evident just how much Tuchel is leaning on Kane to help him with his messaging to the squad.
After the team secured their qualification to the World Cup with the 5-0 win in Latvia last month, Kane spoke in the dressing room to say that everyone had to show up in November and “keep this thing going”. Tuchel said on Wednesday that it was “basically the headline” for the camp.
When Kane speaks, people listen and he was interesting on two others issues – the importance of set pieces and Phil Foden as his understudy in the No 9 role, even if the Manchester City player brings a “false” profile to it, as he did when he came on against Serbia on Thursday.
“We want to build a book of set plays … like an NFL playbook where you look at the opposition, see if they are zonal or man-mark and pick what we want to do,” Kane said. “Ultimately, the best team at set plays normally go on to be the best team in the tournament.
“With Phil, there has been a lot of talk throughout his England career about where he should play and clarity is the thing he probably needs. The boss has made it pretty clear he sees him as one of the false 9s or as a No 10. Phil looked sharp against Serbia and he just wants to prove a point again.”
