Jarrod Bowen jumped to the defence of Harry Kane, insisting there has been no panic about the England captain's lack of involvement in their opening two games at Euro 2024.
Although they are top of Group C and unbeaten with four points, the Three Lions have come under scrutiny for their performances so far in Germany.
An underwhelming 1-0 win over Serbia was followed by a 1-1 draw with Denmark, with Scotland (0.78) the only team to record a lower xG across their first two matches at the tournament (1.85).
England have attempted only 17 shots, with seven on target while, against the Danes, only 17 per cent of their open-play touches came in the final third as they struggled to progress with the ball.
Though he was on target in that game, Kane was replaced in the 70th minute having only recorded 22 touches throughout the contest - two fewer than he managed against Serbia.
The Three Lions skipper is fresh from scoring 44 goals in his debut season with Bayern Munich, but has struggled to build on those performance levels thus far, with his displays drawing widespread criticism.
But Bowen empathises with the striker, who is only the third man after Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney to score for England at four different major international tournaments.
"We know Harry's quality, how many goals he's scored. He hit the bar [against Serbia] with an unbelievable save and scored again [against Denmark]," the West Ham winger said.
"As a captain, as a person, as a leader, he's one that's been at the highest level for many years, scored so many goals. So, he's been incredible on the pitch, but also off the pitch, as well as a leader and a person. I can't say how good he is highly enough.
"I don't think there's been panic about [his lack of touches or involvement in games]. Of course, he might want to be involved more than he is involved. But, like I said, he got his goal the other night.
"He could be sat here with two goals after two group games. As a striker, sometimes you're not involved in the game as much as you want to be. I think that's probably just the life of a striker, and then you can score a goal.
"I'm sure Harry wants to keep scoring as many goals as possible in this tournament. I know he loves his goals, takes real pride in it. So for him, it's difficult for me to answer because I'm not sure what he wants in terms of having more touches in the games.
"Sometimes, you're up front against three centre-halves, two centre-halves, whatever the formation maybe, but when the opportunity comes, we know we can score goals, and he's shown that."
Udinese 2-3 Inter: Martinez at the double in hard-fought win
Striker Lautaro Martinez scored a goal in each half to help climb to third place in Serie A, following a 3-2 victory away to Udinese on Saturday.
The victory ended a three-game winless run in all competitions for Inter and ensured they got back to winning ways at the first opportunity following their 2-1 defeat in the Milan derby last weekend.
Udinese, meanwhile, are fifth in Serie A, with this defeat their second on the spin in the league after losing at Roma.
Davide Frattesi put Inter a goal ahead after just 43 seconds in Udine, converting Matteo Darmian's low cross to score the earliest goal in a Serie A match since 27 May 2023, but that was cancelled out by Christian Kabasele's 35th-minute header.
Last season's Serie A top scorer Martinez restored the visitors' advantage in stoppage time at the end of the first half before the Argenitne made it 3-1 just after half-time.
Lorenzo Lucca pulled one back for Udinese on 83 minutes to make it a nervy ending for Inter, yet it was the visitors who came closest to bagging again with Mehdi Taremi seeing a stoppage-time goal ruled out.
Data Debrief: Inter get going on the road
This was Inter's first away victory of the season in all competitions.
It was, in turn, also Udinese's second defeat of the campaign and the second straight match in which they have conceded three goals. Udinese have now shipped 10 league goals, with just two teams in the division having let in more.
Martinez, meanwhile, netted at least two goals in an away league match for the 10th time for Inter. Since his debut in Serie A in the 2018-19 season, no other player has scored at least twice in a single match on the road in Serie A on as many occasions as him.
Arsenal 4-2 Leicester: Gunners strike twice in stoppage time to down Foxes
Arsenal left it late as two goals in second-half stoppage time saw them overcome a resilient Leicester City 4-2 at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Leicester looked set to claim a point against the odds thanks to an unlikely James Justin double in the opening 18 minutes of the second half.
Arsenal had been in complete control in the opening exchanges, with Gabriel Martinelli opening his account for the season with an instinctive finish inside the box.
The Gunners then doubled the hosts' advantage before the break, marking his return from suspension with a goal after firing home Martinelli's cutback.
Yet Justin – whose second was an eye-catching volley – turned the match on its head until Mikel Arteta’s side came good again in the closing stages.
Trossard was again involved, seeing his effort deflect beyond Mads Hermansen by the unfortunate Wilfried Ndidi in the fourth minute of injury-time.
The win was sealed five minutes later, with Justin rounding off his eventful encounter with an unfortunate assist as his attempted clearance cannoned in off Kai Havertz to move Arsenal level on points with Manchester City at the summit.
Data Debrief: Gunners eventually down plucky Foxes
The Gunners are now unbeaten in 40 Premier League home games against promoted sides (W35 D5), winning each of the last 11 in a row.
Arsenal had 36 shots in this match, their joint-most on record (since 2003-04) in a single Premier League game (also 36 v Sunderland in May 2017).
With a goal and an assist, Martinelli has now been involved in 51 Premier League goals for Arsenal (33 goals and 18 assists). Against no side has the Brazilian been involved in more than his five against Leicester (three goals and two assists).
Havertz's late goal also brought up a Premier League milestone, notching his 50th goal involvement (35 goals and 15 assists) in the division, with 24 of those coming in 43 games for the Gunners.
Everton 2-1 Crystal Palace: McNeil's brace secures first win of the season for hosts
Dwight McNeil’s brace secured Everton’s first three points of the Premier League season, completing a comeback of their own in a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Amid speculation of a takeover attempt at Everton during the week, the hosts also provided renewed hope on the pitch, as they continued their fine form against Palace at Goodison Park.
Marc Guehi gave the visitors an early lead, poking home at the near post, seeming to signal the continuation of Everton’s woes.
But Sean Dyche’s side rallied after the break, with McNeil hitting the back of the net with a delightful long-range strike in the 47th minute before adding a second at the far post just seven minutes later.
Abdoulaye Doucoure had the opportunity to put the game to bed 10 minutes from the end as Calvert-Lewin set him through on goal, but a last-ditch challenge from Lacroix spared Palace’s blushes.
The win lifts Everton out of the relegation zone and into 16th, leapfrogging their opponents, who drop to 17th.
Data Debrief: Dyche's men comeback against the odds
Having dropped points from a winning position in their last three matches, Everton's win was the first time they had picked up three points after trailing at half time in the Premier League since 19th May 2022 against the same opponents.
Meanwhile, it is the first time Crystal Palace have lost an away game after leading at half time in the Premier League since 27th August 2022 against Manchester City.
It leaves the visitors without a win in their last 6 games in the Premier League. Their last longer winless streak was from 11th November 2023 to 27th December 2023, a run of 8 games.
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