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Here’s the proof that Harry Kane definitely shouldn’t be taking corners today

We knew we were right

Here’s the proof that Harry Kane definitely shouldn’t be taking corners today
16 June 2016

The existence of the Loch Ness monster. The identity of Jack the Ripper. People who use Bing as their search engine. Just some of the world's biggest mysteries, but which all pale into consideration when compared to this.

Why is Harry Kane taking corners for England?

Fans everywhere were baffled when the Three Lion's number one striker, who has put 59 goals in the onion bag over the last two seasons with Tottenham Hotspur, was put on corner duty for the friendly against Portugal, before continuing in England's first group game against Russia. In fact, he took almost as many corners in the latter game (6) than he did in the whole of last season (7) for Spurs. What's more, they weren't even very good, leading pretty much everyone - fans and pundits alike - to question why on earth Roy Hodgson was instructing him to do so.

Hodgson defended the decision earlier this week, explaining, "He’s the best striker of the ball we have. He’s the one who gives us the best delivery. We’ve tried many other players and we don’t get the same level of delivery. We also have so many players in the penalty area who are very good at attacking the ball – Wayne Rooney being one – that we don’t necessarily need Harry there. We need him more on the ball, taking the kick, because that’s our best chance of scoring.”

It was quickly pointed out that Wayne Rooney has scored the sum total of 7 goals in 5 seasons from corners with Manchester United.

Now this new infographic, created by Football Index, confirms what we already knew: Kane should be nowhere near that corner flag.

Using Opta data from last season, they show that the Spurs man is, in fact, the 12th best player in England's squad at taking corners, but has the best statistics for attacking crosses and scoring goals inside the box. James Milner was found to be England's best corner taker, with Adam Lallana the top-rated amongst those players who started against Russia.

Meanwhile, Gary Cahill was found to be England's biggest threat from set-pieces - winning 64% of his aerial duels, with Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Vardy joining Kane in the top 5 threats from set-pieces.

Still, we're a little concerned that the stats may not be accurate - after all, Rooney is ranked as the third best corner taker, yet who could forget this classic?