sport news Former England U20 boss Peter Taylor claims Harry Kane wasn't 'prolific' in his ... trends now
Things were a bit different when four of Gareth Southgate’s squad for Qatar embarked on their first World Cup experience together as emerging youngsters.
Conor Coady, not Harry Kane, was England’s captain at the Fifa Under-20s tournament in 2013 and the current Everton defender was a holding midfield player with Liverpool at that time. Kane, 19 at the time, still contributed to team-bonding albeit through his fashion as much as goalscoring.
John Stones was regarded as the player likeliest to go all the way into the senior England team. Eric Dier was also in the squad but not Harry Maguire, who was overlooked for Jamaal Lascelles.
Harry Kane is gearing up for his second World Cup with England's first-team squad this month
Former England U20 boss Peter Taylor has lifted the lid on Kane's early international career
Peter Taylor, who was asked by Sir Trevor Brooking at The FA to manage the team in the finals in Turkey, had to start from scratch as England didn’t play regular under-20s matches then compared to other competing nations.
A fortnight’s preparation in Wrexham and one friendly were all England had which explains their group stage exit, though Coady and Kane scored in draws against Iraq and Chile before a 2-0 defeat against Egypt knocked them out, former Aston Villa forward Trezeguet scoring for them.
Despite his disappointment, Taylor – the first manager to give David Beckham the England captaincy when he was interim manager between Kevin Keegan and Sven Goran Eriksson – had seen enough from certain individuals to know they had a bright future.
‘I did my research before the tournament, spoke to people who knew the players better than I did. After a chat with Sammy Lee at Liverpool, I decided Coady would be our captain and straight away I liked him – he was another Jamie Carragher.
Taylor was the first manager to give David Beckham (left) the England captaincy
Taylor claimed that Kane wasn't 'prolific' during his early international career but developed
He was a leader and though he played in midfield, you could see he could go back to centre-half. He was a real good lad to have on board. I think at tournaments when you’re away for a long time, you need people who can be funny and noisy. He was a very serious captain but he was a laugh.
‘Harry Kane was a cracking lad, also good fun though I joke I must be the only manager he wasn’t prolific for. He did score one but also
