Football news - This Kane is tired stuff is nonsense; Mount & Sancho examples to Loftus-Cheek

Harry Kane is too tired to play for England, apparently. Kane has not said as much but according to newspaper reports he is trying to persuade Gareth Southgate to play him in the upcoming games against Croatia and Spain. Persuade, indeed.

Tiredness is simply an excuse and it is absolutely ridiculous. No one told Gary Lineker that he was tired. And I am sure it was the same with Jimmy Greaves. No one told Wayne Rooney he was tired when he hit a bad patch. And that is it, Kane is going through a relatively bad patch and people are calling him tired. He is still nicking goals, though.

He came through as this high-pressing forward but perhaps his game has changed now; perhaps he has decided – or been told – that he is better-suited to focussing on goal-getting. Alternatively, perhaps defenders have become more adroit at stopping him. So, if anything, he has to work harder at his game to again improve. The best way to do that is by playing.

Kane is young and he is still having to learn. He is developing and progressing but people are calling him tired – that is the worst excuse ever and anyone who claims to be too tired to play doesn't deserve to be a professional footballer. He has an opportunity to play a competitive match for his country and he is right to want to play it. It is a short career for goodness sake.

Unless Harry Kane comes out and says it, this tired stuff needs to be put to bed. I hate that word tired when it comes to football. He is England captain and he needs to be leading from the front.

Also, the obsession with stats is killing football. Everyone gets so caught up in stats that do not matter – the only one that matters for Kane is goals. And he is still scoring.

Furthermore, based on stats, England have some of the best players in the world but in reality England are average. Look, for example, at Jordan Henderson – his passing stats are superb but in reality what does his passing offer? Players should be judged on their actual performances on the pitch.

However, I will tell you who has great stats and could develop into a genuinely great player: Jadon Sancho. The reason? Well, he obviously has great natural talent, he has been coached extremely well at Watford, Manchester City and now Borussia Dortmund but most of all he is playing. Consistently. He is young and free but he is in the best country for a young player – Germany have a track record for bringing through young players and they will educate him in the right way.

Thing is, as a young player, say 16 to 18 years old, why would you stay at a top Premier League club? Sancho has provided a fine blueprint; leave the UK, get experience abroad and then earn an England call-up. A prime example of how stagnated a talented player can become is Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Were he to play football regularly, he could be a special, special player. However, after a strong season at Crystal Palace and a solid showing at the World Cup, he has returned to Chelsea as an unused substitute.

He must play regularly but that is just not going to happen at Chelsea. It is ridiculous. He should have demanded a switch away from the club. He needed to be strong. If he wants to play for his country then he had to ask to leave.

His club team-mate Mason Mount has had to drop down a division to get that playing time and England call. However, the situation in the Premier League has become so ridiculous that, should Mount impress, then the national team might start regularly selecting a player who has had to go to the second tier of English football to get a game. It makes no sense.

And it all goes back to Harry Kane. Were he not given the chance at Tottenham, where would he be now? Probably not England captain. Mount is one of the lucky ones, he has got his England call, but the situation and opportunities for English players must improve.