Bukayo Saka won the Man of the Match award in his first start for England at Euro 2020.
The Arsenal attacker earned a place in the Three Lions squad after another fine campaign for Arsenal in the Premier League.
He has been arguably Arsenal’s best player for the last two seasons and Gareth Southgate loved his performances in his first few international games.
The England squad has an abundance of talent and that has forced Southgate to keep the likes of Saka, Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho on the bench.
After England qualified for the next round of the competition, he made changes for their last group game against the Czech Republic.
One of the players he brought into the starting XI was Saka and the attacker proved his worth.
He was so good on the day that he was voted the best player in the game.
Arsenal legend, Martin Keown says the Arsenal man has to play England’s next games because he is too good to be on the bench.
He writes in his Daily Mail Column: “Saka hasn’t always remained in the Arsenal starting line-up when he should have. If England stand by 4-2-3-1 in the knockout stages, then I’d like to see Saka starting again.
“He’s an outstanding attacker but also a fine defender. He’s got bags of energy and has shown his versatility in being used as a wing-back as well as a forward under Gareth Southgate.
“England’s manager decided to rest Phil Foden against the Czechs and decided he wanted to stick with a left-footer on the right wing. Saka came in and took his chance to impress.
“The 19-year-old is mature beyond his years. The only time I think I’ve ever seen any signs of nerves in the teenager was on his England debut. That was probably when it all hit home – the magnitude of how far he’d come in such a short space of time.”
Saka is fantastic. ❤️ him
His chances of starting under our ‘safety-first’ manager are virtually nil. Why field a technically brilliant, very quick, and very versatile player, who can leave defenders for dead, and who sets up goals, when you can have Phil Foden, admittedly a top player, and very reliable and very predictable, but also possibly more suited to Southgates brand of unadventurous football. Saka will be used as an impact sub when we are playing catch-up late in the game.
👍👍
If England failed to beat that average Germany team, Southgate should be sacked.
Southgate should never have still been in charge when this championship started ,lucky to still be in a job after the World Cup sh1t show ,Abit like a manager closer to home .
Dan Kit A bit like a manager closer to home, hmm who might that be🤔🤔