Richard Keys has hit out at claims he has seen made about Bukayo Saka after the Arsenal star started for England in their Euro 2024 opener against Serbia at the weekend.
Gareth Southgate’s men have opened their tournament with a victory, but it was certainly not the most convincing performance from the finalists of three years ago.
England fans will hope that there is plenty more to come from one of the most talented squads in the tournament, but thankfully for the Three Lions, Jude Bellingham was able to turn home a cross from Bukayo Saka to see off Serbia.
Bellingham timed his run perfectly to head home on the edge of the six-yard box, following some good work from Saka on the right-hand side.
Richard Keys hits out at what has been said about Bukayo Saka after England win
However, writing on his blog, Richard Keys has hit back at the idea that Saka intended to find Bellingham, while he was also critical of the Arsenal star’s overall performance.
“England did enough. No more. And they got lucky with the goal. Bellingham’s finish was brilliant. It was a great header, but there’s no way the cross was meant for him. Saka was playing that to the first post for Kane. The deflection lifted into Bellingham’s path. I’ve read some reports suggesting Bellingham was Saka’s target. Nonsense. Of course he wasn’t,” he said.
“I can’t think of much else that England could take from the game. TAA was poor. Because TAA played and Rice had to look after him, he was restricted – just as he is at Arsenal if he doesn’t have a 6 alongside him. Kane was anonymous. So was Foden and the deflected cross aside – I can’t think of much else that Saka did.”
What some may forget about Arsenal star’s previous Euros campaign
In fairness to Saka, no-one really stood out in England’s performance, and that is exactly how it should be, as a major tournament contains plenty of twists and turns.
It is about peaking at the right time, and in this format, England should have absolutely no problem emerging out of their group with relative ease. With that win, they have more than one foot in the knockout stages.
But people may forget that Saka did not even start for England’s opener at Euro 2020, and only emerged as a key player as the group-stages continued, starring in the victory over Czech Republic.
He has done amazingly well to start in a team which is blessed with so much quality in the final third, and it would be no surprise at all to see him step up at some stage this summer – just as he has time and time again for Arsenal.