Harry Kane has so far struggled at Euro 2024.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has come up with a theory on why Harry Kane has so far struggled at Euro 2024.

During the 23/24 domestic season, England captain Kane enjoyed a stellar first season as a Bayern Munich player on a personal level.

The striker managed to score 44 goals and assist 12 in 45 appearances for the Bavarian club. However, Kane’s goals counted for little as Bayern lost the Bundesliga to Bayer Leverkusen.

Bukayo Saka can’t hide his delight after scoring penalty vs Switzerland
Credit: Hayters TV/UEFA 2024

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Representing England at Euro 2024, Kane has only managed to score twice, against Denmark and Slovakia.

Kane was substituted during England’s quarter-final clash against Switzerland in the 109th minute, replaced by Ivan Toney.

Speaking about Kane ahead of England’s semi-final against the Netherlands, Neville said on The Overlap Newsletter: “We can talk about Harry Kane but it’s a waste of time. We know full well it’s just words. Gareth is never going to leave him out. I’m not sure I would either. It would take a very brave coach to do so.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if after the tournament, we discover that he’s been playing with injections. He’s not moving fluently. He’s not the usual Harry Kane. We’ve seen it before in tournaments, where the captain, the leader, the biggest personality, the player you look to, isn’t at the top of his form.”

He added: “Wayne Rooney was like that in 2016, David Beckham in 2006. There’s a tension and dilemma between playing the guy who is clearly the No.1 player but the performance levels aren’t quite there.

“Maybe Gareth has got to a place where he’s happy to substitute Harry now and bring someone on to change it up. But Harry is going to start against the Netherlands. England won’t go onto the pitch without him.”

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Meanwhile, former Three Lions striker Ian Wright said on Stick to Football: The Overlap Special, brought to you by Sky Bet: “When you look at the way that Harry Kane has played in the tournament up until this point, you can’t not watch him and say there’s something not right with him.

“He’s not sharp, he’s not in the box – and now we know Ivan Toney can go to that level and take a penalty. We need somebody who is going to be up there, linking and holding and causing problems for their defenders.

“At some stage, we’re going to need to make that decision about what’s going on – we can’t just wait for that Harry Kane finish, at some stage we might run out of time in that respect.”