The criticism of Harry Kane is '"inevitable" and just part of a "repetitive cycle," according to England manager Gareth Southgate, who is relaxed about his player's form.
Kane has been substituted off in both of England's opening two Euro 2020 games, and was particularly poor in his performance against Scotland.
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Whilst the service up to the captain hasn't been as good as it should have been, the Tottenham Hotspur striker has still been short of his best.
Kane's lack of form has even led to Jamie Carragher to call for the 27-year-old to be dropped on Tuesday night against Czech Republic, but Southgate thinks the criticism is part of a "repetitive cycle."
"I think the only thing that's relevant is what I've said already this week," the England boss said in defence of his striker, "His importance to the team - he's been our best player, our most influential player, our most important player for a long period of time.
"Of course there's been moments where the likes of Raheem [Sterling] have probably had periods where he's been critical for our success as well in terms the goalscoring, but Harry has consistently been our top goalscorer, his record since I've been in charge is phenomenal and he's a hugely important figure for us.
"I think it's the world of a big player.
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"Throughout the time I've been England manager I must have managed these sorts of questions about Harry in three or four different periods of time, and inevitably he's come through those periods and scored important goals for us and played exceptionally well. So it's a bit of a repetitive cycle."
There has been some questions about whether or not the talk about Kane's future has distracted the World Cup 2018 Golden Boot winner.
Last month the former Leicester City loanee told the club he wanted to leave, with his preference to stay in the Premier League, and Manchester City have made the first offer.
However Southgate also doesn't think that the potential move is proving a distraction. "The big players have big focus, have a lot more attention, and their world is far more complicated than a lot of other players who can go under that radar of pressure and intensity," the Three Lions' boss added.
"So I've got a huge understanding of how that is for Harry, a huge understanding of having played with big personalities, big players how their world is different and hopefully that helps me to manage him and get the best out of him, which over a long period of time I think we have done."
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England have already qualified for the last 16 but will want their talisman firing on all cylinders for the knockout stages.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Tottenham Hotspur, Football, Euro 2020, England, Gareth Southgate, Harry Kane