Thomas Tuchel’s hunt for alternatives to Harry Kane has led to him identifying Jude Bellingham as an option at No 9 for England. Kane continued his remarkable scoring record in the 2-0 win against Czechia in the Nations League on Tuesday, moving to 87 goals in 123 international appearances with a late strike in Prague, but he has little cover up front. There is no prospect yet of Tuchel having to consider life without Kane.
The England head coach backed the 33-year-old striker to last another decade at the highest level, tipped him to reach a century of international goals soon, and said England cannot expect to produce a replica of their greatest forward. However, there is concern over whether England have enough depth in attack. Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney have been overlooked for this camp.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who came on for Kane during the defeat by Spain on Saturday, is 29 and has four goals in 13 caps. Liam Delap, the 23-year-old Nottingham Forest forward, is yet to earn a senior call-up and it was noted that Bellingham led the line after coming on for Kane in the closing stages against Czechia. We finished the game with Jude as a No 9.
There will be someone else but it will not be Harry or a copy of Harry. We will find a solution when it comes to it but maybe not me. It might be another 10 years.” Bellingham wore the captain’s armband after coming off the bench in Prague on Tuesday.
We found a bit of a new role for him in the last match, as a central [No] 10, so he can go to both sides and it is more of a 4-2-3-1 than a 4-3-3 to have Harry and Jude closer together and to give them a chance to overload both sides. Jude in general should always be able to go through the last line and be able to end up in the box. He is a natural goalscorer and has the hunger to be on the scoreboard.
He wants to have the decisive action so it makes not a huge difference if he plays as a [No] 9 or a [No] 10.” England moved second in Nations League Group A3 after seeing off Czechia, who were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half. Anthony Gordon opened the scoring and Kane finished well late on. The highest level of finishing.” Tuchel was the manager who took Kane to Bayern Munich in 2023.
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