England got off to a dream start in their opening group-stage contest as Jude Bellingham opened the scoring with a thumping 13th-minute header beyond Predrag Rajkovic, but that was as good as it got for the Three Lions in Gelsenkirchen.
Kane had a header of his own pushed onto the crossbar by Rajkovic before Jordan Pickford denied Dusan Vlahovic to prevent Serbia from levelling with a late equaliser, with Gareth Southgate’s men allowing the opposition to apply pressure by sitting back in the closing stages.
But the result ensured England moved to the top of Group C after Slovenia and Denmark played out a 1-1 draw in Sunday’s earlier match.
Southgate praised England’s resilience as he spoke to the media in the aftermath, but his side were disjointed in attack, with Phil Foden and Kane struggling to make inroads against a resolute Serbia defence.
Kane, on the back of an extraordinary debut season with Bayern Munich, barely featured before the halfway stage, touching the ball just twice, and former Liverpool defender Carragher came away from the match concerned by England captain’s Erling Haaland-like role.
In his column for The Telegraph, Carragher wrote: ‘Kane had only two touches in the entire first half against Serbia – England will not win the Euros if that continues.
‘Of all Gareth Southgate’s strategies for winning the Euros, few anticipated Harry Kane being reinvented as Erling Haaland.
‘On the surface that sounds like a great plan for the country and for any striker. The role is specific and in some respects old-school; to play as much as possible on the shoulder of the last defender, stay on the fringe of the action as the midfielders assume all the creative responsibilities, patiently awaiting one moment to strike.
‘The problem with a player of Kane’s many abilities is that it reduces his effectiveness by 50 per cent. Kane is a multi-tasking, modern centre-forward who was reduced to one-dimension during the 1-0 win over Serbia.
‘If Southgate persists with the same system for the rest of the tournament, his No 9 will be heavily compromised. Possibly too much. Having come into the Euros with a Phil Foden conundrum, after one game Southgate has a Kane one.
‘In the first half, Kane registered just two touches of the ball. For a player of his class, that is deeply worrying.
‘By full time that had risen to 24, showing that he was more involved in the second half – ironic given that England were less dominant in possession. There is a tactical curiosity that when England played well, Kane was not involved at all. When they didn’t, he nearly scored and had more possession.’
According to Carragher, a distinct lack of sheer pace ‘hurt’ England and there was ‘too much responsibility’ on Bukayo Saka to make runs in behind Serbia’s obstinate defence.
‘I have always distinguished the best centre-forwards between great players and great goalscorers. Haaland is a great scorer. Kane is a great player who scores lots of goals,’ the former Liverpool and England centre-back added.
‘The reason he is world class is because he does not need to score to have an impact on a game. At his best, he is a goalscoring No 9, a false 9 and a creative No 10.
‘Redefining him as a poacher to accommodate so many team-mates who want to occupy the deep, No 10 position will be the most contentious decision Southgate makes if England are unsuccessful.’
Carragher continued: ‘Kane is at his best when he is surrounded by pace. At the last three international tournaments, he liked to drop deep and supply passes to rapid wide strikers like Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling, or (when selected) Marcus Rashford.
‘Even when England were in control during the first 30 minutes against Serbia, Saka was the only attacker running beyond the defence. He was brilliant, but there was too much responsibility on him to make those runs.
‘The lack of pace hurt England the longer the game progressed, so it was surprising Anthony Gordon was not introduced. There is also an argument that Ollie Watkins should have replaced Kane for the last 20 minutes because he is quicker and could have freshened it up physically.
‘True, Kane nearly had his reward when he forced an impressive save on 77 minutes. Like Haaland, interpretations of whether he played well or not become defined by such opportunities.’
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