Bukayo Saka's Struggles Raise Concerns for England

Bukayo Saka looks spent. Not just tired, not just short of sharpness – spent.

That’s the blunt assessment from Gary Neville and Ian Wright, who have both raised the alarm over the Arsenal winger’s condition as England edge into the knockout phase in North America. Saka has been nursing a persistent Achilles problem, monitored closely by the FA throughout the tournament, and the strain is starting to show.

He has featured in all three group games, but only from the bench, his minutes carefully rationed by Thomas Tuchel. The kid who usually lights up a pitch has been reduced to cameos.

On Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville didn’t bother dressing it up.

“Bukayo Saka doesn’t look right at all,” he said. “He’s usually the boy that's bubbling and smiling, he's got that competitive edge to him, but he's not right and that's a concern to us, I think.”

This isn’t a minor dip. For those who have watched Saka carry Arsenal through another demanding season, the contrast is stark.

A gamble catching up with Saka

Wright, never shy about defending attacking talent, finds himself asking a harsher question: should Saka have been here at all?

The 24-year-old admitted before the tournament he was “happy to gamble” with his fitness. It sounds romantic – the devoted international willing to push through pain for his country – but the reality on the pitch is less poetic. Wright sees a player running on fumes after a brutal domestic campaign.

Saka’s minutes were already being managed in the Premier League run-in. Full 90s became rare. The explosive bursts, the relentless one-v-one duels, the repeated sprints up and down that right flank – all of it has been dialled down for months.

“We're going into a World Cup, and still not starting the first few games, only starting when we're three games in, and still isn't looking like the Saka that we know – this guy needs a break,” Wright said.

That line cuts to the heart of England’s dilemma. One of their most reliable weapons looks like he needs a summer off, not a last-16 tie in Atlanta.

Wide men missing, pressure rising

The concern doesn’t end with Saka. Tuchel’s other options out wide have not exactly seized the stage.

Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke have both been handed chances. Neither has transformed England’s attack. The flanks, usually the lifeblood of modern tournament football, have felt oddly flat.

Without penetration out wide, England have leaned heavily on Jude Bellingham’s surging interventions and Harry Kane’s moments of class. It’s a fragile way to live in knockout football, hoping your stars can keep conjuring something from tight games when the structure around them misfires.

Roy Keane has seen enough tournaments to know where that road often leads.

“The wingers need to grab their opportunity. These players haven't quite grabbed their opportunity yet,” he said. “In the group games, you can maybe slip up in one of them, but now at least one of them has to start turning up.”

That’s the shift now. No more safety net of the group. No more time to play your way into form. From here, one bad night can send you home.

DR Congo now, giants later

Next up is DR Congo in the last 32 in Atlanta, a tie England are expected to navigate. That expectation, though, is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

Win there, and the path hardens quickly. A route that could run through Mexico or Ecuador, then Brazil in the quarter-finals, and – if the bracket holds – a semi-final with reigning champions Argentina.

The pundits can already see the contours of that road, and they don’t like the look of the final stretch.

Wright, ever the optimist compared to Keane, still draws a line.

“I think if we can get to Brazil we could probably beat Brazil,” he said. “But then I think we’d have problems after that. I said England would reach the semi-final from the start.”

Keane doesn’t bother with caveats.

“England would have absolutely no chance of beating Argentina in the semi’s, I just can’t see it.”

Strip away the bluntness and the message is clear: this version of England, with its misfiring wingers and its star wide man hobbling through games, doesn’t look built to topple Lionel Messi’s world champions.

For that to change, someone on the flank has to erupt into form. Or Saka has to somehow rediscover his old self through the pain.

The knockout rounds don’t wait for tired legs.