Euro 2024 column: Harry Kane, Phil Foden & England's choice

England View - Marc Iles

HOPEFULLY it isn’t just the beer that is back to full strength when England face Denmark in Frankfurt this evening.

Quite why fans thought they should steamroll through Serbia without breaking a sweat in Gelsenkirchen, I have no idea.

The warning signs were there, Gareth Southgate hasn’t got a particularly balanced side, there are a few still finding their top fitness level and there are still question marks against Trent Alexander-Arnold as an international midfielder. So why such a negative reaction?

One positive, at least in my mind, is that all of the above can improve as time goes on in this competition. If you continue to carve out results while the progress is made, then there really shouldn’t be any room for complaint.

I want to see Phil Foden back to his best, I want to see England get him into the same sort of areas that Manchester City do, and with Denmark needing a positive result after their draw against Slovenia there is every reason to believe he will get some more space and freedom.

I wanted to see Foden playing number 10, and after the season he had at club level for Southgate to say ‘go and win the Euros for us’. You could say the same thing to Jude Bellingham from any of the midfield positions and he would still have a big impact.

But Foden can’t get too down about it, and neither should we. He has ample class to find his way into tonight’s game, provided he gets the right kind of support, and you only have to look back in history to see that central players can still affect major tournaments from wide positions – a la Mesut Ozil for Germany (2014), Andres Iniesta for Spain (2010) or Simone Perotta for Italy in 2006.

Cesc Fabregas made a good point the other night, talking about the mentality of players like Xavi or Iniesta, and how they wanted to take responsibility of the ball in the most pressured situations at top tournaments.

We talk about the pressure of the English press and supporters but it is no different in Spain, it is down to the individual.

The ‘problematic left’ was an English cliché when I was growing up. There always seemed to be some furore about John Barnes not replicating his Liverpool form for his country – although knowing what disgusting abuse he took in some places I can understand why he might have had issues.

Thereafter we had a chain of underperforming successors that carried on right the way through the ‘Golden Generation’ until the game evolved tactically, and it became less of a stigma playing a right-footed player on the left.

Nobody bats an eyelid at Bukayo Saka playing out on the right. He was one of England’s chief threats on Sunday night against Serbia in the first half before tiring, after which you have to give Jarrod Bowen some credit for the energy he showed as a replacement.

If Foden isn’t working against Denmark then England could turn to Anthony Gordon for more direct running, Eberechi Eze for a bit of skill, or Cole Palmer for a bit more craft, but I’d like to see Southgate make these changes a little earlier.

Overall, I am confident. If England can book their place in the next round and leave us with fewer question marks between here and the final game, then that is progress.

Harry Kane might benefit from sharing the spotlight (Image: PA)

England View – Marc Iles

IT must be a strange feeling for Harry Kane, not having the weight of 11 men, a whole club, or a nation on his shoulders.

The England captain has certainly carried his fair share of weight in the last six or seven years, looked upon for goals, for inspiration, for the right words after every victory and defeat.

But if there is something to be taken from the opening win against Serbia it is that England do have other talismans these days, it isn’t all on Kane to produce a moment of magic.

Jude Bellingham is the obvious example. Much has been discussed about Phil Foden – but he is more than capable of being that man too – and Bukayo Saka lit the touchpaper so many times for Arsenal last season, but his star-power is overlooked a little for his country at times.

Kane touched the ball twice in the first half on Sunday evening, and that was during England’s best spell. He had more involvement in the second half and was unlucky to have one header tipped on to the crossbar but by his sky-high standards it was a mediocre display.

He is, however, a player on whom you would bet your mortgage if it really mattered. His mentality is second to none and someone who commands respect from every single nation in this tournament.

Opposing teams make plans to stop Harry Kane and if they are successful that might have been a serious problem. Nowadays, though, it feels like the more attention they pay to the number nine, the more space it offers to others.

England are learning to share the spotlight, maybe it is their best way to get to where they want to be?

Spain's Lamine Yamal is the tournament's youngest-ever player (Image: PA)

Euro View – Marc Iles

I CAN remember trying to revise for my A Levels during Euro 96, a pointless task which is why I can now tell you more about Davor Suker, Karol Poborsky or Hristo Stoichkov than I can about fluvial dynamics or Schema Theory.

Trying to study while you are also starring for your country? Well, that’s just showing off.

Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal is managing to do just that for Spain, juggling studies with becoming the youngest-ever player at the Euros aged 16 and 338 days. And if he carries on the way he is going, that 17th birthday party is going to be a banger.

It is realistic to expect such a young player to continue playing the way he did against Croatia? Of course not. But it is a wonderful story that shows age is nothing but a number.

Turkey’s Arder Guler did the same thing, producing a brilliant goal against Georgia in Dortmund.

A couple of years older but a Real Madrid talent who is no less exciting, he was a major influence in what must be the best game of the competition so far.

Throw in elder statesman Jude Bellingham, 10 days shy of his 21st birthday, Germany’s Jamal Musiala and Portugal’s winning goal-scorer against the Czechs, Fransisco Conceicao, and this tournament has seen some brilliant performances from its youngest players already.

I can’t wait to see if Yamal and Spain can shine again when they take on Italy tonight, a game I fear might be a bit cagier than those we have watched in the opening round as neither will want a defeat on their record.

Italy didn’t convince me against Albania, so I think Spain have the edge in quality. But if any country can see out a draw and take it to the last game, it will be the Azzurri.