England can’t do anything at World Cup without Harry Kane, they’ve become the new Set-Piece FC

With less than three months until the World Cup gets underway, you can forgive England fans for lacking in hope.

A 1-0 defeat to Japan in a friendly has shown that there is still work to be done, and talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham is already getting nervous.

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Kaoru Mitoma scored the only goal at Wembley Stadium after a loss of possession from England in midfield during another poor display.

The result comes just four days after the disappointing 1-1 draw with Uruguay, and 78 days before their World Cup opener against Croatia.

One man missing from the team on Tuesday night was captain Harry Kane, who was rested after picking up a minor issue in training.

He is all but confirmed to be in the squad this summer, but Durham has warned England of their World Cup chances if he was out injured.

“Harry Kane was here tonight, watching the game,” he said post-match on talkSPORT.

“Fair play to him for that, he is the captain, I would expect the captain to be here with his players, even if he’s not playing. So, he’s done that, and that’s what a captain should be doing.

“If he’s not fit for the World Cup, England are in big trouble, we definitely need him.

“There are names on the team sheet, we know Jordan Pickford is going to start, Harry Kane, it feels like we can’t do anything at the World Cup without Harry Kane. He has to be fit for the World Cup.”

Jason Cundy echoed his thoughts on The Sports Bar when he said: “Unfortunately, we have got no chance without Harry Kane.

“Did Argentina have a chance without (Lionel) Messi? Did Argentina have a chance without (Diego) Maradona?

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“Every international side has got their go-to guy. There is always one. Without Harry Kane, we’ve got no chance.”

Taking a leaf out of Arsenal’s book?

A lack of attacking creativity from England was evident in the defeat to Japan, despite a plethora of quality going forward.

Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers are all stars in domestic football, but showed little-to-no cutting edge.

England’s best chances of equalising came late on in the second half, with a couple of attempts going high or wide after set-pieces.

In his player ratings, Durham appeared to hint that they are becoming ‘Set Piece FC’, a tag that has become popular with Arsenal.

“England won’t be anyone’s favourites to win the World Cup,” he said. “In the end England became Set Piece FC, desperate stuff.”

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Durham offered further worrying analysis of England and their pre-World Cup preparations in his closing comments on commentary.

“That was terrible. Japan enjoyed it, and they were pretty decent actually, good luck to them at the World Cup,” he said.

“England have got some serious work to do. Thomas Tuchel has shown us nothing in terms of international credentials in these March friendlies.”

Durham added: “That’s the first time since the Euros that England have failed to score in an international, not great timing. England… I blame Mikel Arteta… I’m only joking!”

Boos ring out at Wembley once again

Ben White was booed by England fans against Uruguay, even after he scored their goal, having returned after his 2022 World Cup walkout.

However, the jeers were more collective when the full-time whistle was blow against Japan, and they could have sounded even worse.

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“The boos would have been louder here at Wembley, but pretty much half of the fans had left long before the final whistle,” Durham explained. “The players are going around applauding the fans, but there’s not many fans left to applaud them back.

“Listen, they’ve made it to the World Cup, but that’s the bare minimum, that’s not really a test of England.

“It’s not really a test of Tuchel, either. He’s been given this big new contract, and yet we’re going to a World Cup with very little hope that we’re going to win it.”

Speaking on Mitoma’s goal, he added: “They’ve conceded a goal with some poor play, losing the ball cheaply in midfield, then not defending properly.

“You can say it was a good goal, but there’s things wrong with it from an England point of view. Attacking wise, we ended up just chucking corners into the box, that’s not really good enough.”

England have two more friendlies to play in June before their World Cup campaign gets underway.

New Zealand and Costa Rica are their opponents, where there will have to be drastic improvements to inspire the Three Lions fanbase.