‘Focused’ Toney ready to play his part as England prepare for Switzerland | England

FThese days, the best teams play with two strikers. Some prefer to use a false nine. At Euro 2024, some suggested that no job in football was more thankless than having to be Harry Kane’s replacement. The England captain still starts.

Gareth Southgate has not mentioned the Alan Shearer-Teddy Sheringham duo at Euro 96. He would prefer Kane to lead the line alone, with Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka supporting him in attacking midfield.

Ivan Toney and Ollie Watkins, England’s replacement strikers, must have spent a lot of time imagining what it would be like to play alongside Kane, feeding off his through balls and hustling defenders in the old-fashioned way.

But last Sunday, with England seconds away from being eliminated by Slovakia in the last 16, Southgate decided to try something different. With 94 minutes remaining on the clock, Toney came on. The Brentford striker, by his manager’s own admission, was not particularly impressed with being brought on at that stage. He desperately needed more time to save England.

But when Kyle Walker threw a long pass and Marc Guehi headed it in, Toney made his presence felt by occupying the Slovakian defenders. Pinned down, they couldn’t stop Bellingham from doing what Toney succinctly describes as “Jude doing Jude things.”

The focus naturally turned to the acrobatic overhead kick. But there was another element that contributed to England’s comeback. Toney unsettled Slovakia. His physicality unsettled the Slovaks. He held onto the ball, brought his team-mates into the game and expertly created Kane’s winning goal in added time.

It is a shame England have not trained much with their two forwards. Their attack has been in a slump. Some believe that pairing Kane with Toney or Watkins could give them a bit more freshness in their quarter-final against Switzerland on Saturday.

“I feel like you worry too much when you’re two guys up front,” Toney said. “It gives the opponent more to think about. I’d put him back to H and he could just take seconds.”

Ivan Toney Profile

Toney is a big believer in positive thinking. “There’s a guy called Michael Caulfield at Brentford who always talks about controlling your emotions,” he said. Toney admits he was annoyed with Southgate. “At that point it was time to control your emotions,” he said. “I was annoyed, but there were still 30 minutes to go. You have to focus.”

The 28-year-old was full of humour. “I think my face said it all,” Toney said, smiling as he explained how Southgate could see he was in a bad mood. “It’s all sorted now. We’re friends!”

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Toney is determined to leave his mark on the Euros. “You’re excited to be in a tournament,” he said. “Everybody wants to play, not just me. In the final moments, you’re thinking, ‘When am I going to get in?’ You’re looking at the clock and thinking, ‘Now, now.’ The moment wasn’t coming and it came in the final moments.”

“I’ve seen it many times, when you’re on the touchline, ready to come on, the ball doesn’t come out and the final whistle blows. But if I wasn’t annoyed by sitting on the bench, I think you wouldn’t have the right attitude and you wouldn’t really want to play football. When I came on the pitch, you had to stay focused and change your mindset.

“It was a revelation to know we could go home at any time. The relief after that in the dressing room was, ‘Okay, guys, it’s time to play’. I think we have the character and the quality of players to do it. Hopefully we can do it now.”

Toney insisted he always believed England would score. “There’s always going to be a big chance,” he said. “You saw it in the Turkey game, one of the Austrian players headed it in the dying moments and the keeper made a great save. You have to have that belief. If you have that belief in the dying moments, someone’s going to have a chance. Then it’s up to you to take it.”

Toney will be ready to defend if the ball falls his way. He is not afraid to take a penalty if England have to go to penalties. The question, however, is how much Southgate is prepared to use it. England could catch Switzerland off guard by resorting to tactics that were supposed to be a thing of the past.