Bukayo Saka recently complained about being kicked frequently by players and he wants more protection from the referee after some harsh treatment from Aston Villa’s players.
Villa manager, Steven Gerrard, responded to him by claiming football is a contact sport and he shouldn’t expect special treatment from opponents.
Former Premier League star, Danny Mills has now revealed that he supports the Villa boss’ take on the issue and says Saka has now given opposition players an opportunity to wind him up.
The attacker has become a key player for Arsenal and when he is on the move, you sometimes have to kick him to stop him from doing damage.
Some of his opponents employ that tactic deliberately and Mills says now that he has revealed what he doesn’t like, he has made himself vulnerable and that is exactly what opposition players will do to him.
He tells Football Insider: “What Bukayo Saka has done now is made himself a target, as much as anything else.
“I’m not advocating booting him off the park because if you do that you’re going to get red and yellow cards and nobody wants to see a player injured.
“But on the flip side, if you’re not quite as good as Saka then how do you stop him? If you can give away niggly fouls and be physical within the rules of the game and he doesn’t like it, then you get in his head and you know he doesn’t like it.
“For me, it’s almost like he’s given the game away a little bit. He’s said ‘This is what I don’t like’. If you’re the opposition, you’re going to do exactly like that.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Being a fast and skilful player, opponents will struggle to cope with Saka in matches, and they might be forced to stop him by tackling or holding him back.
The attacker keeps getting better, and he probably needs to become smarter at getting away from his markers now so that he will avoid contact with others.