Roy Keane described Adam Wharton’s performance on his return to the England starting eleven against Albania as ‘a bit soft’.
The Crystal Palace midfielder, who a number of clubs are thought to be keeping tabs on, lasted a little over in the 2-0 victory on the continent.
It was a steady if not thrilling performance from Wharton in the middle of the park, with both of the Three Lions’ goals coming after he was withdrawn for Elliot Anderson.
And speaking at half-time, Man United great Keane urged Wharton to demand the ball more if he’s to make the impact required to dislodge one of either Declan Rice and Anderson in Thomas Tuchel’s preferred midfield.
‘I do like Adam Wharton,’ the 54-year-old admitted. ‘A lot of the modern midfielders, their first option seems to be “can I go sideways or backwards?”
‘What I like about him, the first option he seems to look at it is “can I pass it forward?” and that’s a big strength to have.
Adam Wharton made his return to the England starting eleven against Albania today
The Crystal Palace midfielder lasted just over an hour before being withdrawn for Elliot Anderson
But former Man United captain Roy Keane described his performance as a ‘bit soft’
‘This is where he can mature over the next year or two if he’s playing at the top level, put demands onto people. He’s a bit soft there. Shout at players, go “give me the ball!”. That’s what I used to do, I used to fall out with people a lot. “Give me the ball!” Put demands on your team-mates.
‘He’s still new to it, so I’m not going to be too harsh on him. But as he matures and starts playing more games, put demands on your team-mates.’
The victory in Albania means England have completed a perfect qualifying campaign ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel’s men conceded not a single goal and scored 22 during their eight games in Group K, finishing some 10 points clear of second-placed Albania, who were resurgent against the Three Lions on Sunday evening.
It took England some 74 minutes to break the deadlock with none other than captain Harry Kane the man to do so. The Bayern Munich forward tapped in a flicked-on header from close range to put his country one up.
And it wasn’t long before he made it two with an impressively directed header from an inch-perfect Marcus Rashford cross.
Speaking to ITV News after the final whistle, Kane said: ‘It was a really tough game, one of the toughest we had in the group. We had to be patient and grind them down which we did and we ended up with a 2-0 win and another clean sheet.
Captain Harry Kane scored both goals to seal England’s perfect qualification campaign
‘First half we did outswingers then when Saka came on, we know how good he is with the front post so we went front post, got a bit lucky with the flick on but thankfully I was there to put it away.
‘If you want to go far in any tournament you need a whole squad, you need players who don’t start, to come off the bench and make an impact, that’s what football’s about. It’s not just the 11 that play, the boys come on and make a difference.’
