Jamie Carragher: Saka Key To England Winning Final Clash

By The Editor
on 14th July 2024

Carragher clear on what England need…

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher feels getting Bukayo Saka into dangerous positions is key to England’s chances of winning the European Championships, Sky Sports reports.

Carragher claimed that Saka has been England’s best player at the tournament and spoke on his concern at the Arsenal man potentially being too deep to cause Spain problems in Gareth Southgate’s system.

Southgate has been operating a 3-4-3 system since the quarter-final clash against Switzerland and while it’s provided the Three Lions with better balance, Saka is forced to retreat into a back-five when they’re out of possession.

That system lowers the the amount of times Saka can attack his full-back in the final third, especially when they’re playing against a team that will dominate the ball.

“I think Saka can have [Cucurella] on toast, don’t worry about that. I’ve seen that so often in the Premier League,” Carragher said ahead of the clash in Berlin.

“We’ve seen it before, he gives him huge problems. And not just Cucurella – he’s given almost every left-back huge problems in this tournament and he’s probably been England’s best performer.

“We need to make sure we see enough of Saka going forward as we do going back,” the former England defender added.

“We know he can do a great job – tactically brilliant, diligent and can do a great job helping Kyle Walker. But we need to see Saka causing Cucurella problems as well.”

If Saka finds himself in a situation where England are starved of possession, he needs to take the game in his own hands and realise he has the ability to decide it.

Saka often makes decisions that he feels is best for the team in terms of being unselfish, but sometimes going on a solo run is what’s required – especially when you have the ability to do it.