Kevin Kilbane has been called out on social media over his comments on England’s Bukayo Saka.
On Thursday Southgate announced his England squad ahead of the European Championship in Germany, cutting a provisional 33-man group to 26. Southgate dropped Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire from the group travelling to Germany, alongside James Maddison, Curtis Jones, Jarell Quansah, James Trafford and Jarrad Branthwaite.
Surprise inclusions included the likes of Adam Wharton, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon and Jarrod Bowen as well as the injured Luke Shaw, who may be fit for the Three Lions' second group game with Denmark on June 20.
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Naturally, Saka, an Arsenal and England regular was named in the squad, after a club campaign that saw him claim 16 goals and nine assists in 35 Premier League encounters.
Despite another impressive season for the Gunners, Saka has received much online criticism in recent months, with fans on social media baselessly accusing him of feigning injury when his side are struggling.
And former Ireland international Kilbane is the latest to make the claim about the Arsenal winger.
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On Saka, Kilbane told TSN Sports: “[Saka is] not in the same class as [Antoine] Griezmann [in terms of] his influence on the side.
“Watch out during the Euros as well with Saka. [He’ll be] limping off with 20 minutes to go and then a doubt for the next game and then [he’ll] make it.”
Fans on social media were quick to react, with one person on X, formally Twitter saying: “Same people that will glaze [Phil] Foden and [Cole] Palmer for doing things Saka’s been doing consistently for years.”
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Another said: “Ayo that's crazy wtf. Thought he said something normal then went on the limp train”
A third added: “This is a joke TV personalities nowadays are trying to be more like social media fans what happened to analysing the game properly?”
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A fourth said: “Ridiculous from TSN here.”
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Topics: England, Bukayo Saka, Arsenal, Euro 2024
Chris Byfield