Stats Show Harry Kane Isn't Even in the Top 10 Corner Takers in England's Squad
England fans were left tearing their hair out at Harry Kane taking England's corner kicks against Russia on Saturday night - and the stats show that the Spurs man shouldn't even be close to corner duty against Wales on Thursday.
Research by the world's first football stockmarket, Football INDEX, has revealed that Kane is actually 12th best in England's squad at taking corners, but tops statistics for attacking crosses and scoring goals inside the box.
Last season's Premier League Golden Boot winner took all of England's six corners against Russia "? and research carried out using Opta data from last season's Premier League shows just how bad a decision that may have been.
Kane scored 23 times inside the penalty area for Spurs last season, level with Jamie Vardy, and more than Wayne Rooney, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge combined. The Spurs striker also scored more goals from crosses or corners than any other player in Roy Hodgson's squad.
A player's likeliness to score from corners was determined by ranking them across headed goals, goals from crosses and corners, aerial duel win percentage, and goals inside the box, during the 2015/16 league season. Gary Cahill was found to be England's biggest threat from set-pieces, with Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Vardy rounding off the top five.
Football INDEX's research also found that despite being Hodgson's first choice corner taker, Kane is only ranked 12th in the 23 man squad - ranking 19th for pass completion and 16th for assists compared to his teammates, and only managed seven accurate corners in 38 league appearances during 2015/16.
Liverpool's James Milner was found to be England's best corner taker, finding a teammate with 58 corners last term. Of the players who started against Russia, Adam Lallana would be the best choice to take corners, leaving Kane free to be one of England's biggest threats in the box.
Stats provided by Football Index - who are also on Twitter.
"?For more from Chris when he's not writing on 90min, follow him on Twitter at @ThatChris1209!
Don't miss out - subscribe to the 90min podcast - now on iTunes HERE and back on SoundCloud over here!
Comments
This article has 0 comment(s) , give your comment