Despite Harry Kane's ridiculous run of form over the last three seasons and, most recently, over his goal laden September, the Tottenham Hotspur striker is not England's best player. According to Three Lions' manager Gareth Southgate, at least.
The England boss saw Kane guide his country to next summer's World Cup in Russia with a last minute winner against Slovakia on Thursday but believes it is in fact Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana who has been most impressive since he took over as manager, last year.
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During a press-conference ahead of today's clash with Lithuania, Southgate singled out the former Southampton man as his best player over the last year, even though Lallana has been unavailable for the last three matches, due to injury.
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"In my year in charge, Adam Lallana has been our best player and we've not had him for the last three matches.
"There are some players who can unlock defences and score goals.
"Dele [Alli] is an interesting player. If you analyse his game closely he's a scorer of goals and he's not necessarily the link player Adam is."
England's best player over the last year? Gareth Southgate seems to think so. Image: PA
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Lallana was named England's Player Of The Year for 2016, so it's easy to understand why Southgate rates him so highly. Although in fairness, 2016 wasn't exactly England's finest 12 months, with an embarrassing Euro 2016 secound round exit to Iceland proving to be one of the worst results in Three Lions' history, before Sam Allardyce lasted exactly one game as manager before being dismissed by the FA over his involvement in an undercover sting in which he was caught on camera discussing how to circumvent third party player ownerships in football.
Do you agree with Southgate? Is Lallana England's best player or is it Kane or perhaps Dele Alli?
Have your say in the comments section, below and on our Facebook page.
(H/T Dream Team FC)
Topics: Football, England, Gareth Southgate, Adam Lallana