Harry Kane has explained why he believes England's front four are so difficult to defend against, following a record-breaking 7-0 win away to Croatia in Rijeka on Saturday.
The victory consigned Croatia to the heaviest defeat in their history. Kane scored twice, as did Bukayo Saka, with further goals from Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and late substitute Morgan Rogers. Thomas Tuchel's side briefly moved above Spain to the top of Nations League Group A3.
Kane on England's attacking freedom
Tuchel's favoured attacking quartet of Kane, Saka, Bellingham and Gordon have been in supreme form for their country since the start of this summer's World Cup. Speaking to ITV after the game, Kane explained why they are so deadly in front of goal.
“There's freedom,” Kane said. “All four of us are good players. We can play in the 10 pocket, Ant can play as a No9, B can come in as a 10, Jude can play as a 9, I can play as a midfielder.
“It's so hard for the opposition to pick it up. The bottom line is if you lose the ball, we're all smart enough and good enough to cover in midfield or defence.
“That's the way we want to play. For them [Croatia], it was so hard to pick a man and press. Alex [Scott] and Elliot [Anderson] with their movement were outstanding. The centre-backs, the full-backs: every man was at the highest level.”
Kane hails dominant display
Asked to summarise the performance, Kane said: “Unbelievable from start to finish. We spoke a lot about having a 90-minute game where, from start to finish we were completely dominant both with the ball and without the ball and I think that was it right there.
“We're at our best when we're free, physically overpowering and make it a Premier League-level [game]. You saw that out there today. They couldn't live with our pace, our movement, our runs. We were clinical as well.”
Midfielder Scott made his first start for his country and impressed Tuchel and Kane on the occasion of his second cap. The Bournemouth midfielder said of Kane: “I knew he was ridiculous.
“I've been watching him since I was a little boy, so I knew his level. But up close, you can really see his level. And that's why it's been spoken about the Ballon d'Or and things like that. Jude, the same.”
