If the Hale-End star is out-of-form or things aren’t going well, then his Arsenal place is still guaranteed under Mikel Arteta.
But for England at Euro 2024, it has been a different story for the Arsenal forward, as he proved those critics wrong on Saturday.
England beat Switzerland on penalties to book their semi-final ticket, with Bukayo Saka walking away with the Man of the Match award and Gary Neville lauding and applauding the Arsenal man.
The former right-back wasn’t just overjoyed with Saka’s performance – his 80th-minute goal took the game to extra-time – but he was even happier that he scored his spot-kick in the penalty shootout.
Neville stated that the Arsenal star ‘looked so calm’ before taking his penalty and his actual spot-kick was ‘beautiful’, as he told ITV Sport, in their build-up of the Netherlands v Turkey.
During the tournament, Saka has been questioned and come under fire, but when it mattered most, he stepped up and showed the world what he is all about.
It also needs to be noted that, at Euro 2020, he missed his penalty as England were beaten in the final by Italy, but this was his redemption.
But Neville highlighted that many players of the past haven’t been able to recover from such moments, but Saka did.
The Sky Sports pundit also noticed how Saka seemed to mouth to the critics ‘stop talking, blah, blah, blah’ after celebrating his goal.
Bukayo Saka helps England beat Switzerland at Euro 2024
“He looks calm, doesn’t he, he looks relaxed, to be fair,” responded Neville as Saka stepped up for his penalty. Saka then scores and Neville starts clapping: “Ooooh, that was beautiful that. Look at that smile. Do you know something, I love that smile. That smile is a thing of beauty. Well done you. So happy for Saka. His smile just radiates joy and what he went through four years ago was extremely difficult. I have seen many players go through it and not return from it. They haven’t had the same confidence. But he’s a brilliant player.”
Neville then discussed Saka, who started in his usual right-wing role throughout this tournament, playing as a wing-back against the Swiss.
The former Manchester United star added: “He was a huge threat. I thought he was going to play at left wing-back to bring that balance on that left-hand side. It didn’t happen. It was a surprise for us to see him on the right. He had that side to himself, he really did dominate and he was the biggest threat for England by a long way. There you go, he is saying ‘stop talking, blah, blah and blah’. I think that’s to us.”
Bukayo Saka proving people wrong
The Arsenal player is at a stage of his career where he is starting to put in consistent performances and perform at a high level.
But because he has only played one season in the Champions League and only has the FA Cup to his name, then others question whether he is of that world-class standard.
This latest England display was one of his best, if not his best yet because of the amount of pressure he was under and how he delivered when it mattered most as England are now in the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
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