Gareth Southgate has admitted Harry Kane does not let him forget about the matches he’s not started while Conor Coady has lavished praise on the striker for not only what he does on the pitch but also what he does off of it while. The 28-year-old England captain netted a perfect hat-trick against Albania on Friday night, scoring with his left and right foot after scoring a header. When asked what it was like to defend against someone like Kane during his time with Wolves, Coady made it very clear just how highly he rates the striker.
Conor Coady said: “He’s one of the best. First and foremost, he’s a brilliant captain and a fantastic person. I think when you come to England, the way he trains, he looks after himself, he prepares and he does everything to the high ability that he can do, so I think that’s the biggest thing I can say about him. His football does his talking for him. You see what he does for Spurs on a weekly basis. I’ve played against him quite a lot now and I can’t explain just how tough it is. Honestly he’s one of the best strikers in the world and you see that when you come up against him, but like I say it’s a pleasure to train alongside him here. Just because you look at the way he prepares and looks after his body, making sure he’s right for every single training session and that shows in the goals that he scores. He’s an incredible person, but an incredible footballer as well.”
England boss Southgate was asked whether he felt he should have played Kane in some of the easier games he rotated the team for in recent years in order to get him nearer to Rooney’s record and subsequently whether he owed him the start against San Marino.
Gareth Southgate said: “Well he’s quick to let me know that he hasn’t played in those games. Of course there’s a balance for us, because one of our strengths over the years has been that we’ve got a really strong squad mentality. We’ve wanted to make sure that people that are with us get the opportunities to play, that the guys who have been starting for us in some of the bigger matches, during the summer in particular, recognise that they have a role to support everyone else when the time is right. When you have a squad it’s so important that those who aren’t starting support the team that are. So I believe that’s a good process for everyone in the squad to experience. Equally we want the team that we start with tomorrow is a statement that we’re here to do business, that we’re here to take it seriously, that we’re not qualified yet and we want a strong performance. We’ve got thousands of England fans travelling and we must put on a performance that underlines all of the facts that we’ve just spoken about.”
