There were many surprised pundits around when Bukayo Saka was even included in Gareth Southgate’s final England squad for the Euros, given the wealth of young talent at his disposal at the moment.
But the Arsenal youngster made the final cut, and Southgate even played him in his opening friendly against Austria last night, and to cap it all off, Saka scored the only goal of the game.
It would appear that Saka may well have earned a starting spot in the Group games after listening to the high praise that Southgate gave Saka after the game. Southgate told TeesideLive after the game: “I thought both Saka and Bellingham were excellent.
“They were as they’ve been since they’ve walked through the door with us.
“In training and matches they’ve played with confidence and freedom, they’ve played with maturity too.
“I thought Bukayo right from the start linked the game really well. He received the ball well on the line and on the inside, he’s got a lovely ability to receive in traffic in the infield and manipulate his way through. He’s like a slippery eel getting away from those challenges.
“He produced a nice run on the outside with a nice cutback cross, so yeah I thought his all-round game having worked hard defensively for the team was excellent.
“I was really pleased with him and for him to get the goal.”
With England being amongst the favourites to win the competition, it is great news that us Arsenal fans will have someone to cheer on at the Euros, and with the amazing trajectory of Saka’s career so far, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him to score the winner in the Final…
As long as I can remember, England has always been ‘among the favourites’ but they never win the cup. The only real quality wingers in that team is Saka and foden and we all know that Southgate won’t use Saka that much. England will find it difficult to beat the likes of Germany France Belgium and even spain, they have Maguire who is not that different from Mustafi and we all know Pickford will definitely do a Leno.
I’ve always known from the outset that Saka would be a top, top player. The lad is really giving me something to cheer about after a dismal season. I hope he comes back healthy, better and stronger next season. Conte is available and almost on the brink of joining our north London noisemakers, why can’t we sack Arteta and get Conte immediately?
I’m not optimistic about Arteta at all.
I remember when Eddie and I used to say Saka is a better player than Nelson but kev keep saying Nelson is our best academy graduate in over 5years, now Saka is playing for England national team and Nelson is still with our under23. The way Saka plays he’s just like arjen robben and Frank rebery, there’s the intelligence about his football, he knows when to shoot he knows when to pass and he knows when to cross the ball, the only thing I think he should develop is he’s shooting. Everyone keeps talking about Foden, the only difference between Foden and Saka is that one has a good coach and the other not too good, if the case was reversed and Saka plays in that man city team, he will be talked about every week. One thing I really like about that boy is that he seems to be a very humble man who still believes in hardwork. We have so many talented youngsters but presently none is as good as Saka. (at least the once have seen play) not even Martinelli,I just hope he won’t get a long injury that will put his development on hold.
Well said lenohappy
Good for him