Stuart Pearce Criticizes Kyle Walker for Not Supporting Bukayo Saka
As England prepares to face Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, former captain Stuart Pearce has expressed sympathy for Bukayo Saka, who has struggled to make an impact on the right flank.
Pearce believes Saka has not received sufficient support from Kyle Walker, which has hindered his ability to contribute to England’s attack.
However, Pearce thinks Walker, who has played alongside Saka in the back four, has not done enough to help his teammate in attacking areas.
‘I feel sorry for Saka,’ Pearce reveals.
‘Because, and I’ve mentioned it many times on commentary, Kyle Walker as a full-back is not helping this boy out.
‘He’s got to do more for him. He really has. Because I like Saka, I think he’s an outstanding player.
‘But unless you’ve got a distraction run from your full-back, your work is that much harder to try and get turned and face the opposition up.’
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Meanwhile, Pearce believes Southgate will make only one change from the extra -time win over Slovakia for Saturday’s clash against Switzerland with Ezri Konsa replacing Marc Guehi, who misses out due to suspension.
‘If there’s a change at all, and it’s Palmer, I think Palmer will play instead of Saka, and Saka will be the one that is sacrificed.’
‘Personally over the four games, I think performance-wise, I think that [Phil] Foden’s performances have been stronger than Jude [Bellingham].
‘People will look at me and say, ‘are you crazy, he’s won us one of the games, he’s kept us in the tournament with his goals’.
And I grant that, his goals have been brilliant and you’re loathe to take players out the team that can score a goal at the drop of a hat like that.
‘You’re not going to take Jude out the team but I think it would be harsh on Phil Foden to be left out of the starting line-up as well,
because I think he’s improving game-on-game and we think, on what we’ve seen for Manchester City, he can get us to the final and win us the tournament on his day.
‘It’s a really difficult team selection for the manager. When push comes to shove, apart from Konsa, I think he’ll put the same team out.’
Saka’s versatility was evident when he was deployed as a makeshift left-back in the second half of the win against Slovakia.
