Why England manager Gareth Southgate replaced Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane against Denmark

In the second round group match of the European Cup Three Lions, England drew 1-1 with Denmark in Frankfurt. England scored in the 18th minute. Harry Kane scored, but the Bayern Munich forward was controversially substituted midway through the second half. Next, England were looking for opportunities. He came off in the 69th minute along with Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden, who were replaced by Ollie Watkins, Jarrod Bowen and Eberechi Eze. The England fans at Deutsche Bank Park were in disbelief.

Overall, England fell well behind against Denmark but Southgate’s substitution in the second half made little difference, as was the case against Real Madrid in Bayern’s semi-final second leg, with questions raised about Thomas The decision to replace Kane on Tuchel. On the face of it, it’s not exactly a crowd-pleaser when you’re facing a country that’s favorite to win the Championship, but Southgate explained his decision to pull the star forward after the game. reasons.

“We need energy. We’ve played two games, we need fresh legs, we need energy to press. At that stage of the game… Harry has only played 90 minutes once for Bayern in more than a month, so That’s the decision we made,” the England head coach explained to BBC One (via @iMiaSanMia).

While Southgate was correct about Kane’s playing time at the end of Bayern’s Bundesliga season, his decision didn’t exactly work. Several England players fell to the ground exhausted after the final whistle in Frankfurt, seemingly showing their relief that the game had ended in a 1-1 draw. Denmark looked more likely to score for much of the second half, especially after Southgate made most of the changes.

For Kane’s sake, Vincent Kompany and Bayern will certainly be looking at him with weary eyes, hoping that Kane’s fitness levels improve and he doesn’t aggravate the back problem that caused him to miss the end of Bayern’s season and the final stages of the league. Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.