Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane should be England strikeforce, says Leicester boss Claude Puel
Monday 27 November 2017 23:03, UK
Leicester manager Claude Puel has urged England boss Gareth Southgate to play Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane together as a strike partnership.
Kane is first choice for the national team, understandably given the Tottenham man has been the Premier League's top-scorer for the past two seasons, with Southgate often opting to play him as a lone striker, meaning Vardy is a substitute.
There have been occasions when the two have been on the pitch at the same time, but that has regularly resulted in Vardy being deployed in a wider position and not through the middle.
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Puel, whose side host Spurs in the Premier League on Tuesday night, said: "I think it would be a good opportunity perhaps if they could play together because it would be a good balance between Jamie and Harry.
"Harry can play a little further back because he likes to play and participate with his team-mates and Jamie likes to take space and play behind the defenders. It is a good balance between them both."
Kane, who had a loan spell at Leicester as part of his development almost five years ago when the Foxes were in the Championship, has scored more goals against his former team than any other club in the Premier League.
He scored four times on his last visit to the King Power Stadium in May and has already hit the back of the net 19 times for club and country this season.
Asked how to stop Kane, Puel added: "It is difficult. For me it's collective because he doesn't stay in place.
"Sometimes he goes back to play between the lines, sometimes goes for first balls and sometimes second.
"He plays with a good understanding with his team-mates. He can shoot, he can score from every position around the box and inside the box. It is difficult because he is clinical because in every position he can score without an opportunity."
Puel will still be without central defender Robert Huth (ankle) and midfielder Matty James (Achilles) against Tottenham, but the Frenchman otherwise has a full squad available.
