Euro 2020: Bale and Kane, at opposite ends of a Spurs story | Football News

Both are national team captains and icons who ended the Premier League at Tottenham Hotspur saying they wanted out. Under somewhat similar circumstances, Harry Kane and Gareth Bale went into Euro 2020. Two rounds later, the difference between the England and Wales skippers couldn’t have been starker.

Bale has been bounding and bouncing with energy that belies his almost 32 years but Kane, who is 27 and the 2020-21 Premier League golden boot winner (23 goals), has looked somewhere between listless and lackadaisical. Against Turkey in Baku, Bale set up both goals, created three more chances and even missed a penalty. The ball for Aaron Ramsey showed the vision of the man who puts Wales before everything, golf and Madrid included. Bale’s strong run off a short corner fetched the second goal. This from a man who started only 10 Premier League games last term.

Also Read| Euro 2020: Bale dismisses Mancini’s Stoke comparison as Wales target Italy upset

“He (Bale) wears the armband for a reason… Missing the penalty was a bitter blow for him. But he reacted in a positive way and if he hadn’t taken the corner which he did and saw the opportunity then we wouldn’t have the second goal. Without his two assists, we don’t win the game. It is as simple as that. It’s about being a team player and setting up goals and he certainly did that,” Robert Page, Wales’ caretaker manager, has said.

Now on to Kane. His influence on Friday could be gauged from the English FA’s match report mentioning Kane only once, in the 13th paragraph. Against Scotland at Wembley, he had 19 touches — the least in an international where he has played one half— one shot and was substituted in the 74th minute.

Kane was peripheral in the opener against Croatia as well — only Ante Rebic had fewer touches in the first half — and was replaced though then it looked like England were managing his workload. “He is a very important part of the team, in fact the most important part.. You can score a goal at any moment,” said England left-back Luke Shaw of his skipper who is yet to register a shot on target.

Part of the problem seems to be that Kane is unsure of his role while Bale isn’t. Bale has been operating on the inside right channel and can drift in — the raking pass for Ramsey was made from such a position — depending on whether right-back Connor Roberts is overlapping. And because in Keiffer Moore Wales has a targetman, Bale can play deeper in midfield.

Kane does that at Spurs where Son Heung-min’s pace is crucial. But in Euro 2020, he has been unable to play the kind of ball Bale did for Ramsey. And he hasn’t been able to show the pace, strength and control of, say Romelu Lukaku, to lead the line. When Phil Foden floated one into space and Kane couldn’t even pressure Scotland’s Kieran Tierney for the ball.

Kane has denied he is distracted by talks about his future or that he is not feeling at his best after 60 games in a crunched season. He has also said he is developing an understanding with Mason Mount and Foden. “Obviously you don’t get many England games… It might take you a game or two to get that little bit more understanding as you do club football,” he said on Saturday.

Maybe that’s why against Scotland, Kane added to the midfield crowd, exacerbated by Foden and Raheem Sterling cutting in, by one. It meant England ran into areas patrolled by John McGinn with a lot help from Billy Gilmour and Callum McGregor. And with Scott McTominay settling in as centre-half, the long balls were snuffed out. “Scotland defended really well and we weren’t able to open them up,” said England coach Gareth Southgate.

It hasn’t helped Kane that England, barring the bright start against Croatia, haven’t created much from open play. How the 2018 World Cup golden boot winner (six goals) performs is a product of what happens around him. “Scotland marked him extremely well, with the back five,” said Southgate.

Kane has 34 goals for England, 12 of them coming in the qualifiers for this European championship. He is the only England player ever to have scored in every game of the qualifiers. Problem is, according to former Manchester United skipper Roy Keane, when he doesn’t score. “I have never seen him dig people out, “Keane has said as a TV pundit.

That’s something Bale has been doing in Euro 2020. He takes the lead in the post-match huddle and got Wales to rally around when they trailed against Switzerland. After the Euros, he could go back to Real Madrid because Carlo Ancelotti has replaced Zinedine Zidane who had deemed Bale surplus to requirements. Meanwhile, Kane’s club future stays uncertain and his team has been booed at Wembley.