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By IAN LADYMAN, FOOTBALL EDITOR Published: 02: 06 AEDT, 2 April 2026 | Updated: 02: 10 AEDT, 2 April 2026 5 View comments Another England camp is in the rear-view mirror and the biggest problem of all has been kicked down the road once again like a rusty old can called Kane. What happens when England don't have captain Harry?   It's the question Thomas Tuchel is asked more than any other. Until he provides us with an answer that is backed up on the field then it will follow him all the way through this summer's World Cup. Worse still is the fact that this is a bigger problem than even Tuchel concedes. When he spoke after Tuesday's dismal home defeat to Japan, the England manager said his team without its centre forward is akin to Portugal without Cristiano Ronaldo or Argentina without Lionel Messi. His sentiment was clear but the truth is more nuanced. The brutal fact is that at the last two international tournaments – Euro 2024 and the Qatar World Cup of 2022 – England struggled for long periods at the top end of the pitch when Kane was actually on the field. Thomas Tuchel has admitted England being without Harry Kane was akin to Portugal without Cristiano Ronaldo or Argentina without Lionel Messi The question of what England will do without Kane is one that will follow Tuchel all the way through this summer's World Cup Kane will be almost 33 by the time the World Cup starts and by then he won't have had a summer off since 2023. The sixth major tournament of his career will ask physical questions of him that he has struggled to answer before. So why would we expect things to be any different this time round?   If England win their group and advance through two knockout phases, they will play four games in 13 days in different locations with journeys to and from their Kansas base in between. If anyone really expects Kane to be at full throttle – or capable of playing back-to-back 90 minute matches – during that period then they are probably a little deluded. So the point is that this is not just a case of hoping that Kane stays fit. It goes deeper than that. Even if he starts every game, Tuchel has to have a credible alternative especially when it comes to making in-game changes. In Qatar Kane didn't score any of England's nine goals in the group stage and ended the tournament with one from open play, against Senegal. In Germany two summers ago he was dreadful, a player running in concrete dragging behind him a body screaming for rest. England made the final and Kane returned home having scored two close-range goals and a penalty. Kane struggled physically throughout Euro 2024 and England's demanding schedule at this summer's World Cup should be a cause for concern Tuchel experimented against Japan with Phil Foden and Cole Palmer joining Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers in attack, but it proved a disaster for England  In the final, with England up against it against Spain, he was so gassed and ineffective he was taken off after an hour. This is the depth and breadth of Tuchel's problem. On Tuesday, he sought to solve it the Lee Carsley way. Just as his predecessor as interim threw all his dice on to the pitch against Greece and bombed in the autumn of 2024, so Tuchel did so this week with exactly the same result. The talk was of Phil Foden as a false nine and Tuchel had flagged that one when he announced his 35-man squad a fortnight ago. In reality, England were 4-2-4-0 as Foden, Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers got in each other's way like children on a playground Easter egg hunt. Tuchel had previously he wouldn't crowbar talented players on to the field just for the sake of it and here was the reason why he should stick to a promise broken going forward.   It was a disaster, an experiment conceived in a fever dream that played out as some kind of nightmare. Beyond this, Tuchel's options would appear to be threefold. The one he doesn't really want to take is to go like for like and to a degree it's understandable. Ollie Watkins – who still has a puncher's chance of going to America – Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke are not classic World Cup winning forwards but it doesn't mean they can't play in a World Cup winning team. Oliver Giroud played every game for France as they triumphed in Russia in 2018 and ended the tournament without registering a single shot on target. While Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke are not classic World Cup winning forwards but it doesn't mean they can't play in a World Cup winning team  Jude Bellingham could be a possibility as an actual number nine, as he possesses the ability, the confidence and the physicality for the role Tuchel could also follow Eddie Howe's philosophy having opted to use a runner in Anthony Gordon, although this would mean a significant tweak in how England play their football Jude Bellingham also represents a possible solution. Not as a false nine but as an actual nine. The Real Madrid star – likely to be second in line behind Rogers for the spot at number ten – has the ability, the confidence and the physicality for the role. Positional discipline may be a problem but so it is for Kane. Bellingham up top would also attract inevitable attention from defenders which, in turn, would open up space in and around him. It's a thought. Finally there is the Eddie Howe philosophy. The Newcastle manager started the season with a traditional striker in his team but when Nick Woltemade transpired to be ill-equipped, he swapped him for a runner in the shape of Anthony Gordon. Tuchel has Gordon available and also Marcus Rashford and Jarrod Bowen. It would take a significant tweak in the way England play their football but isn't this the magic for which coaches are paid? Time, then, for Tuchel and his assistant Anthony Barry to get to work. Gareth Southgate – Tuchel's tournament predecessor – wrestled with this problem, too, without ever really cracking the code. Ivan Toney looked for a while as though he may be an answer but – along with Trent Alexander-Arnold – the former Brentford striker exists now only on Tuchel's lists of unmentionables. We would be wrong to panic on the back of this week's Japan debacle. England didn't win for six games ahead of Qatar and then scored six times in game one.   Hearing stand-in captain Marc Guehi say at Wembley that 'it's not easy putting the shirt on' was concerning and delivered entirely the wrong message for a player more impressive when he plays than when he talks. Fear will only bring you home early from a World Cup and, frankly, we thought those days of the England jersey feeling heavy were behind us. A bud needs to be nipped there. More broadly, Tuchel's overt and unapologetic pragmatism may yet serve us. England were dangerous from set plays as Japan tired on Tuesday and Harry Maguire, Dan Burn and Rogers may well have scored. Towards the end of tight games in humid conditions in America, England – with Declan Rice over the ball – may yet come into their own. If this offends those who wish their England team to be more expansive, then it's simply the reality. This is unlikely to be a free scoring World Cup and that may yet play into the hands of a team that didn't concede a goal during qualifying. England can go deep into this World Cup without Kane. It's Tuchel's job now to work out how to do it.

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