When England beat Germany in Berlin last March, talk of the emergence of a generation of strikers who could carry them to glory at Euro 2016 did not feel entirely outlandish. Danny Welbeck caused problems with his pace and movement, Harry Kane pulled off a Cruyff turn before his goal and Jamie Vardy scored with a brilliant flick four minutes after coming off the bench. Roy Hodgson had an embarrassment of riches up front. Wayne Rooney was still to return from injury, Daniel Sturridge was fit at last and Marcus Rashford was shooting to prominence at Manchester United.
Reality soon gave that optimism a good shoeing, of course, and England lost to Iceland in the last 16 in France. Hodgson’s forwards managed a combined total of three goals in four games. Kane took a lot of bad corners but he was still the future. He has scored 24 goals for Tottenham this season.
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