Mark Langdon: Dropping Harry Kane won't ease the pain

If you're playing England bingo then it's almost time to collect the full house after just two matches.

Oozing confidence a couple of months out of the tournament? Tick.

A key injury on the eve of the finals? Yep

Complaints over Gareth Southgate's defensive tactics? You can scrub that out with a permanent marker.

And now it's back to an old favourite of discussing Harry Kane's place in the starting 11.

This is nothing new. If you can cast your mind back to Euro 2020 the same thing happened. It's hard to believe now but there were calls for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to come into the team – the same Calvert-Lewin who has scored just 14 Premier League goals in the subsequent three seasons.

The England captaincy always comes with extra scrutiny and despite scoring the opening goal in Thursday's 1-1 draw with Denmark Kane was the one to take all the flak, even though Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and many of the other England starters were just as bad in a shocking performance.

This was no sizzling show from Kane in Frankfurt but the problems are not confined to England skipper. He and most of those wearing Three Lions shirts looked out on their feet and Southgate has plenty on to fix the side before tougher tests await later in the tournament. 

The defence started too deep which meant a successful press was not possible no matter who had played as the striker, although there was a lethargic attitude to the entire team, probably not helped by a right-back playing left-back, a right-back playing central midfield and a playing surface that would have been mocked by pub players on a Sunday morning at Hackney Marshes.

The grass cutting up can be the only excuse and after such a poor show it's obvious all England supporters will be after a scapegoat. However, Kane's positioning is not the only reason Southgate's side stank the place out.

Asking Kane to stay high up the pitch is to misunderstand his qualities. As well as scoring 213 Premier League goals, Kane had 46 assists before departing for Bayern Munich where he has scored 36 Bundesliga goals this season as well as creating another eight for his teammates. 

He is a nine and a ten. Kane retreating in search of the ball in deeper positions is a perfectly logical approach as long as there is attacking intent around him, with the idea being that if he vacates the space then it creates the opportunity for the winger or attacking midfielders to run beyond. 

If that doesn't happen – as was the case for the majority of the Denmark game – then the team becomes a mess, but it must be on Southgate to release the handbrake rather than make wholesale changes because those who come into the side will face exactly the same issues.

Four points from two games is no disaster, but more would have been expected from the ante-post favourites than what has been served up against Serbia and Denmark, who are not particularly strong opponents as was shown by the fact neither has beaten Slovenia in Group C.

The numbers are also concerning. England had only five shots in the entirety of the 1-0 triumph over Serbia and everything in the stats department was down against Denmark, who won the shot count 16-12 (7-4 on target), had four corners to England's two and shaved possession too.

A mid-tournament panic is nothing new for England and Southgate but dropping Kane isn't the answer to get back on track.

Read more from Mark Langdon . . .

Mark Langdon: Hosts were impressive but one game doesn't tell the whole story 

Mark Langdon: Beers and tears - the Tartan Army should demand more 

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