Well it’s obvious, isn’t it? Alan Shearer would be a certainty to start for this current England team and let’s be honest, the Toon legend would have been the main man for most England teams in years gone by.
Of course, the Three Lions’ current goal-getting hero is captain, Harry Kane. Can you imagine a partnership of Kane and Shearer terrorizing international defences in the current day and age? Well, in a recent interview with BBC Sport, Newcastle’s greatest-ever goal scorer was asked if an Alan Shearer in his prime would partner Kane in the current England team.
“Absolutely yeah. Of course, he (a Shearer in his prime) would. So long as Kane passed to me every now and again. Yeah, we would. It might not be very friendly with me and him because we’d be taking up a similar position but we could work together. Absolutely”
There is no question – with the Newcastle faithful at least – that a Shearer/Kane partnership would work perfectly. Cast your minds back to Euro 96, and you will remember the devastating combination that Shearer formed with Teddy Sheringham in their team’s run to the semi-finals. Sheringham would drop deep to link play, allowing Shearer to do what he did best, get in the box and score.
Kane is also a player that is adept at dropping deep and linking play, so surely he and Shearer would be the perfect mix.
The legendary Newcastle no.9 registered 30 goals in his 63 England appearances, whilst Tottenham captain, Kane has already surpassed that with 52 goals in 73 games. 82 goals between the two in the England shirt. What a partnership it would be.
Imagining the pair in action together is unfortunately all we can do at this stage. Shearer himself put it best by saying: “Not now. Have you seen my knees?”
The Knees may be gone Al, but the memories remain.