England legend issues stinging criticism of captain Harry Kane

Legendary England striker Gary Lineker claimed Harry Kane must improve his movement and off the ball work in the aftermath of the 1-1 draw with Denmark at Euro 2024.

Kane scored his 13th goal at a major tournament to put the Three Lions ahead in Frankfurt, but the chance to book a place in the last 16 slipped through England's hands as Morten Hjulmand's long-range thunderbolt earned Denmark a well-deserved point.

England looked lethargic and devoid of ideas for large parts of the game, with an alarming lack of pressure put on Denmark's defence and midfield as they looked to move the ball in transition.

Gareth Southgate claimed after the game England's struggles were partly down to their inability to adequately replace Kalvin Phillips in central midfield, but Kane, despite his goals, was one of the focus areas for Lineker and the BBC punditry team during their post-match analysis.

"In all honesty, I think Harry Kane needs to do a lot better," Lineker said. "I think his movement was minimal, he didn't look to go behind and he doesn't often, but even when he comes short, he's just drifting short very lethargically, he's plodding short and that's not going to help.

"When you're a striker, your two jobs are obviously score goals, which he's brilliant at and has been all his career and he's wonderful at that sort of thing. But I think he needs his manager to say 'Right, I need a little bit more from you, Harry'. I would have expected that if I had had that kind of performance.

"He's up against three at the back so he has got to stretch that team. Even when he comes short, you've got to go that way first, to keep them up there, and then you come short so that when you've got the ball coming short, you don't have to go 20 yards to go short.

"And he just ambles in and they (defenders) just let him go so he's not creating space for himself for starters."

Kane fronted up to the cameras at full-time, where England's captain admitted that the team are struggling both in and out of possession and that things must improve. The 30-year-old, who enjoyed a fabulous individual season at Bayern Munich, did, however, say that the sign of a good team is avoiding defeat when not playing at the desired level.

"I think we said before the tournament there's no easy games and I think that's showing," Kane told BBC One immediately after the final whistle of the 1-1 draw. "We've got levels we can reach and we can be better both with and without the ball. I think the sign of a good team is when you're not playing at your best and still find a way to get results like we have in the last two games.

"We're top of the group. We know we can improve. I know there will probably loads of noise and a bit of disappointment back home but we experienced this in the last Euros as well when we drew to Scotland. Step by step, we'll get there.

"I think we're struggling both with and without the ball. I think the pressure in both games hasn't been right and with the ball hasn't been good enough. Everyone's dropping below their levels a little bit. It was tough out there, but we're calm. It wasn't our greatest game but we got away with a point."

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