Harry Kane’s most important job as England captain is to score goals

Gareth Southgate may lack tournament experience as manager of a national team though it is already clear he prefers to remove doubt and uncertainty in favour of getting things done. Name the squad early, announce the captain shortly afterwards, and everyone knows where they stand.

That makes it sound as if the identity of England’s captain in Russia is something people have been itching to know for weeks, when in reality the honour just bestowed on Harry Kane is simply a formality that needed to be addressed so it could be moved out of the way. Obviously it is an honour to captain one’s country at a World Cup, though the real privilege, the immortality shot, is to be captain of the country that wins the World Cup. Then you get to raise the trophy in front of thousands of ecstatic fans, to be chaired around the perimeter of the pitch by your tired-but-happy team-mates, to do all the things, in short, that the mind’s eye still sees Bobby Moore doing in 1966.

Of course England have not won the World Cup since 1966, and have spent the last few tournaments going backwards, so posterity does not necessarily come along with the captain’s armband. Far from it, in fact. Kane’s predecessor as England World Cup captain, Steven Gerrard, was the choice of Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson at the 2010 and 2014 tournaments respectively, though neither involved clouds of glory or an ending from the pages of schoolboy fiction.

READ MORE: Kane named England captain for World Cup

In Brazil four years ago, England lasted two competitive matches; Gerrard and his team were out before the group stage had been completed. We can only hope Southgate’s earnestly low-key approach can take England a little further in Russia, though it is plain that a manager’s choice of captain has little bearing on the success or otherwise of the team in the tournament.

Football, it is traditional to say in these biennial contemplations, is not like cricket. There is very little on-field cleverness that a captain can bring to bear to influence the result of a game. If the tactics are wrong or the opponents are exploiting a weakness it is the manager on the sideline who has the responsibility to make necessary changes. All a captain can do in adverse circumstances is to try to adhere to instructions and keep a positive frame of mind, which is the least that should be expected of any player anyway.

Southgate clearly believes Kane can lead by example, though the manager’s admiration for the player extends to his professional approach off the pitch as much as on it. Kane takes his football career seriously – “meticulous” was Southgate’s word to describe the player’s high standards of preparation and dedication – and as the leading English goalscorer of his generation with Tottenham and England, he is clearly someone the rest of the squad can look up to.

On the pitch, however, Kane’s main concern and most vital contribution will be in attempting to score goals. Model professional he might be but Kane is in the squad principally for his goalscoring and once the matches start that will be what Southgate and everyone else will be hoping he delivers.

In a sense, Kane’s goalscoring prowess is exactly what makes him a good choice of captain. He is always going to be in the starting lineup, and that is an important consideration. Kane is the spearhead of the England team on merit, and for the last couple of seasons he has been in exceptional form.

In the past there have been situations when an England manager’s loyalty to a captain has guaranteed him a place in the side that could no longer be justified on form – David Beckham was indulged a little too long and Alan Shearer practically found it necessary to retire from international football to prevent Kevin Keegan picking him – but Kane, at the moment, appears a perfectly reasonable choice. All he has to do now is put the honour of captaincy to the back of his mind and concentrate on his natural game.

While Kane may have latent leadership qualities and undiscovered tactical appreciation, his goals are what brought him to the forefront of the nation’s attention. A few more over the next month or so would be greatly appreciated.