England's goal must be to use Kane's creativity as well as strike threat

"ENGLAND need a No9. Not a nineand-a-half. Not a nine and 10 all rolled into one, but an old-fashioned No9 to prowl the penalty box and snaffle up chances, as limited as they are in international football."

- Dan Kilpatrick

So began a column in these pages on June 14, 2021 at exactly the same stage of the last European Championship-about Harry Kane's best position following a subdued display from the England captain in their opening group game, a 1-0 win over Croatia.

Kane was then a Tottenham player and coming off the back of a remarkable 2020-21 season in which he finished with the most goals and assists in the Premier League. He had proven the ultimate hybrid forward, a goalscoring No9 and a creative 10 in one.

Even so, the view-expressed by a colleague-that Kane should forget the play-making bit and stick to being a traditional target man for the national team was fairly pervasive at the time, amid a sense that his habit of dropping deep was stifling England's build-up play.

Kane and Gareth Southgate, the England manager, always insisted he could play both roles but, fast forward three years, and that may be changing at this Euros.

Kane was visibly more an out-and-out No9 than usual in Sunday's 1-0 win over Serbia, remarkably finishing the first half with just two touches.