- Kane’s late withdrawal exposed England’s thin Plan B up front
- Foden’s false-nine audition lacked penalty-box punch
- Solanke offered signs of a solution; Watkins and Toney back in the frame
Foden as False Nine: Honest Shift, Limited Bite
This was meant to be Thomas Tuchel’s last smooth run before World Cup selection; instead, it became a live-fire drill without Harry Kane. England’s captain was ruled out late, and against a slick Japan side who nicked it through Kaoru Mitoma on 23 minutes, the focus turned to Phil Foden as a false nine.
Look, Foden put in the hard yards. He pressed with a snap Kane rarely needs to show, and he nicked a foul in a dangerous area. But inside the box he was a spectator. The instincts just weren’t there: when the loose balls flashed, Foden wasn’t set to kill. A teasing Nico O’Reilly cross begged for contact; instead, he was muscled out by Daichi Kamada. England also narrowed up, starved their wingers, and the whole thing felt improvised rather than intentional. As Tuchel has basically admitted, there isn’t a like-for-like replacement for Kane—and trying to fake one with Foden did little to change that.
It leaves a bigger question than the FA’s “minor” tag on Kane’s issue: what happens if the next knock lands in June or July? For punters taking the temperature on the football betting sites UK, that uncertainty matters—and it should matter even more to England’s staff.
Solanke Stakes a Claim—and What Tuchel Must Do Next
Enter Dominic Solanke on the hour and, within minutes, England finally worked the keeper. He gave Tuchel more of a true nine: dropped in to link—Kane-esque at times—then spun to threaten the box. A deft flick released Morgan Rogers, and a cushioned header set up Marcus Rashford for England’s closest look. It wasn’t conclusive proof, but it was a functional template.
Where does that leave the pecking order? For me, Solanke moves up, but the real winners might be Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney. If Kane is even a remote doubt, Tuchel has to travel heavy at centre-forward—two understudies, minimum. That probably means trimming one of the five No 10s to balance the bench. Brutal? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely.
There is, simply, no second Harry Kane. So England’s Plan B can’t be cosplay; it must be different by design—earlier width, more runners beyond the nine, and set-piece menace to compensate. Foden remains a gem between the lines, but as the spearhead, this audition said it loud: he isn’t the answer.
Bio:
Football fanatic, you will often find me on the terraces at lower league matches on a Saturday afternoon. I leave the Premier League matches to the prawn sandwich brigade; grassroots football for me all the way.
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As the lead copywriter, it’s my job to turn my colleagues’ “messy notes” (sorry, guys!) into clear, engaging content. From bookmaker reviews to betting predictions, I make sure everything is polished, accurate, and easy to read
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