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Harry Kane says Thomas Tuchel is still trying to ‘drag out’ England’s best, but the captain has defended the spirit and desire of his team as they head to a World Cup semi-final against Argentina.
The Three Lions will face Lionel Messi’s world champions in Atlanta on Wednesday after Jude Bellingham’s double saw them scrape past Norway in Miami.
Tuchel was critical of his side after that game with the head coach unhappy with the technical performance, given Norway dominated for large periods and were unfortunate not to win.
Kane accepts his manager’s appraisal and admits England need to be better if they are to get beyond Argentina and make a first World Cup final on foreign soil.
‘We know we can improve and we know we can play better,’ said Kane. ‘When he (Tuchel) sees us train, sees the closeness of us and sees what we can do, especially with the players we have, the way we attack, our one-on-ones and the skills, he just wants to see that version of us (in a game).
‘He knows as much as anyone that it’s not as simple as that, we’re playing against good opposition. He’s trying to drag it out of us and we know ourselves we have another level that we can reach. We haven’t seen that yet. We’ve shown it in glimpses. Against Norway it was in glimpses. But we haven’t had the full control that we would like and I feel we can have.’
Harry Kane (right) has backed Thomas Tuchel’s (left) call that England need to be better
Kane, though, has defended the characteristics that have taken them this far, as he added: ‘I don’t think it (analysis of performance) is something to get really over the top about. We can play better on the ball, we know that for sure. But we are showing a lot of good things.
‘Things you need to be a successful team, with our desire and determination, the way everybody puts their bodies on the line for the nation. The way the boys defended as a team against Norway and the way we attacked, we still had some really good moments and Jude stepped up for us with another couple of goals.
‘Ultimately, we are in a semi-final of the World Cup and that has not always been the case for this national team, so we have to enjoy it. We need to take that in. It’s been an extremely successful era of our national team. Of course, we want to get over the line. That is the missing piece now. We’re knocking on the door.
‘We’re getting to these semi-finals and finals. It’s a big week. We’ve got eight days left of this tournament. We’ve been together six weeks and shown every bit of desire for the badge and we’re going to need an even bigger push now for the last week or so.’
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