Why England coach Gareth Southgate subbed off Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane vs. Denmark

23/06/2024

Harry Kane scored England’s goal in the 18th minute of the 1-1 draw against Denmark in Frankfurt for the Three Lions second group stage match at the Euros, but the Bayern Munich striker was controversially subbed off midway through the second half when England was looking for a winner. He came off along with Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden as they were replaced by Ollie Watkins, Jarrod Bowen, and Eberechi Eze in the 69th minute, much to the disbelief of the England fans in attendance at Deutsche Bank Park.

As a whole, England were far off the pace against Denmark, but the second half subs from Southgate made little to no difference, and much like the case for Bayern’s second leg semifinal clash against Real Madrid and people questioning Thomas Tuchel’s decision to take Kane off, Southgate faced the same level of criticism from the English press. Optically, it is not exactly a crowd-pleaser when you are dealing with a nation that is one of the favorites to win the tournament, but Southgate explained his rationale after the match for pulling his star striker.

“We needed energy. We have had two games and we needed fresh legs, we needed energy to press. And at that stage of the game…Harry has only had one 90 minutes [for Bayern] in over a month so that was the decision we took,” the England manager explained to BBC One (via @iMiaSanMia).

While Southgate’s information about Kane’s minutes at the end of Bayern’s Bundesliga campaign was correct, his decision did not exactly work out. Several England players fell to the floor in exhaustion after that final whistle went in Frankfurt, almost as if to suggest they were relieved for the match to have ended in a 1-1 draw. Denmark looked the far more likely side to score for the majority of the second half, especially after the bulk of Southgate’s changes were made.

For Kane’s sake, Vincent Kompany and Bayern will certainly be watching on with weary eyes in hopes that Kane’s fitness levels improve and that he does not aggravate the back problem that caused him to miss out on the end of Bayern’s season and the final stages of the second leg Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

Looking for a preview of Germany’s final group stage match against Switzerland? Then Bavarian Podcast Works has you covered with our Preview Show. You can get our takes on the big game on Spotify or below:

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