26 March 2023 , 18:29
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As they walked back to the halfway line after a celebration that involved a corner flag, James Maddison and Bukayo Saka looked up to one of Wembley’s big screens.
And as it beamed out the beauty from Bukayo, Maddison turned to the Arsenal attacker and just laughed, presumably amused at just how good this kid is. Over the past couple of years, no young English player has progressed quite as spectacularly as Saka has.
Not yet 22 years of age, Saka has been the inspirational spearhead of Arsenal’s slightly unlikely title march and he has been as influential for his national team as any other England player has. And that includes Harry Kane, the beneficiary of a left-footed delivery that has become Saka’s curling, fizzing trademark.
Showing Saka on to his left-foot - which happened in the prelude to the Kane opener - is not the brightest defensive ploy but, sometimes, his speed of movement and thinking is impossible to counter.
Mykola Matviyenko was certainly unable to cope and once Saka’s spin had fashioned the shooting chance, you suspected he would give Anatolly Trubin, the Ukrainian keeper, little chance.
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That is eight goals in 26 England appearances for Saka, four in his last six starts. Saka is the reason why Raheem Sterling, currently on 82 caps, will not find it as easy to win the remaining 18 he needs to get to a century.
James Maddison congratulated Bukayo Saka after his stunning strike (Getty Images)Is Bukayo Saka England's best player? Let us know in the comments below!
Sterling was missing from this squad through injury but, in terms of team selection, Saka would have been ahead of him anyway. Sure, Saka’s body of evidence is slimmer but he offers a greater goal threat, averaging one every 219 minutes compared to Sterling’s one every 299 minutes.
In terms of the regularity of assists - assuming Saka gets one here even though his cross for Kane flicked off Oleksandr Karavaev, - the pair are in the same ballpark. For a while, Sterling was an automatic choice as one of the front three but that will no longer be the case.
Because when Sterling returns to international action, he will be competing against a player who is making a compelling case for all of the Player of the Year awards. As things stand, it is surely Saka versus Erling Haaland for this season’s main individual awards.
The moment when he missed a penalty in the Euro final shootout at this venue is long forgotten. He promised it would make him stronger and so it has proved. Saka and Kane now make up two-thirds of the first-choice front three with Southgate likely to rotate players in the third spot.
James Maddison started on the left here but was soon drifting inside, Jack Grealish had a go in Naples and Phil Foden, absent after having his appendix out, can fill that spot But those three players have all been eclipsed in recent times by Saka.
One of the reasons Gareth Southgate decided against walking away after Qatar 2022 is that he believes England have players that will get better and will make this team better.
And the most prized of those players is Saka. Even towards the end of this routine win, he was twisting and turning, winning free-kicks and offering defensive cover when needed.
No wonder Maddison had been laughing. This kid is good.
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