The primary reason for Shearer’s controversial selection is the need to maximise the output of captain Kane. The Newcastle icon believes that England struggled in previous tournaments because they lacked players willing to make runs beyond the striker, something he feels Rogers excels at better than the current crop of creative midfielders.
Shearer explained the tactical necessity of this change, saying: “We didn’t see the best of Kane in the last tournament a couple of years ago and I think to get the best out of Harry, as we’ve seen in that Bayern Munich team this season, you need players running past him and getting beyond him.”
He added: “He is brilliant at coming deep to get the ball and then playing those passes himself, but you have to have players going beyond him, and we didn’t quite have that. If England are going to do well in this tournament, they have to get the best out of Harry.”