Harry Kane's opening performances for England are a real cause for concern and may stem from a lack of fitness, according to Shane Keegan.
The former Dundalk manager made the point on the OTB Football Saturday show following England's 0-0 draw with Scotland on Friday, a result that saw Gareth Southgate's side heavily criticised for the insipid nature of the performance.
"You cannot talk about England without talking about the obvious which is Harry Kane," Keegan said.
"He is just such a big concern at the moment.
"Is he fit? It is really, really hard to see him playing as poorly as he is at the moment if he is fully fit. He just does not look to have that drive."
David Meyler agreed with Keegan's assessment of Kane and his fitness issues, however, the former Ireland midfielder feels there is more at play here.
Picture date: Friday June 18, 2021."I don't think Harry Kane is fit," Meyler said.
"I think all of the talk before the tournament, of does Kane want to leave or does he want to stay, the interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap has not helped his situation.
"I think he is used to playing in a particular way at Tottenham, where he has the freedom to drop in when he wants or to go beyond when he wants to."
Both Raheem Sterling, who performed well in the group opener against Croatia, and Phil Foden were relatively quiet on Friday evening.
Indeed it was Scotland's midfield trio of John McGinn, Callum McGregor and especially Billie Gilmour who earned all of the plaudits. Scotland managed to dominate England in the middle of the pitch, denying the aforementioned attackers space and time, something that played into Kane's lacklustre showing.
The pitch was largely congested throughout the encounter at Wembley, with little space for Kane to operate, while the service provided to the Spurs striker lacked real quality.
Picture date: Friday June 18, 2021.Keegan questioned the instructions, Southgate gave to Kane.
"I would like to know what instructions Kane is being given because, as we know, he is as good a number 10 as he is a number nine but depending on what the gameplan is you need to get that balance right," Keegan said.
"If he is dropping deep because he is being told to drop deep, that is all well and good but I think England need a lot more penetration in behind.
"If Kane is dropping deep when he is being told to stay [long] then there is an issue there.
"I would not write him off yet. Kane is the sort of fella who would go out and bang in two or three goals in the last group game, ignite and still finish the tournament as top goalscorer, but at the moment that does not look like happening."
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