Former Manchester City winger Trevor Sinclair has claimed that Arsenal youngster Bukayo Saka deserves to play ahead of Phil Foden.
The latter was given the nod to start in both of England’s first two group matches, and while he showed glimpses of his talents, Saka done more in one outing than his team-mate did in the previous two.
Jack Grealish also impressed in his first start of the tournament, giving Gareth Southgate some serious thinking to do, and Sinclair has moved to insist that he should stick with the most recent selection, despite his allegiances to Man City.
“Bukayo Saka, what a phenomenal performance,” Sinclair told talkSPORT listeners.
“He’s been the star at Arsenal in a pretty poor team this season, and he’s taken his opportunity.
“He’s given Southgate a real headache and I don’t think he can change it.
“People will say, ‘get Foden back in’, and Man City fans won’t want to hear this, but he’s been OK. When Saka played, he brought it.
“He was outstanding. He was determined on the ball, he was strong, he made good decisions and he made things happen.
“I don’t think Gareth can change that.”
Despite Saka’s age, he has always shown maturity beyond his years, and he plays with a fearlessness that can only boost our chances of reaching the next round. While I believe he should get the nod, I feel like Southgate will bottle it and revert back to his initial line-up, despite our side struggling for creativity in our opening two fixtures.
Will Southgate bottle making the right decision, or does he have the tactical nouse to adapt?
Patrick
I felt like at the start of the game they did not trust him with the ball, they kept playing through the left. The intelligence with Saka is if he wants it in a tight situation, let him have it. With a simple turn he keeps so many players out of the game