“I think it’s brilliant to see players playing well for their clubs bring that to the international stage and biggest stage in football,” said Raheem Sterling when asked about the criticism faced by Bukayo Saka at the World Cup.
“I want them to be left alone so they can be focused and not have any added pressure on them.
“It’s a different kind of pressure to what I was under. In tournaments like this, no matter how many caps you have got, the less you hear your name the better.
“Every player knows if they are playing well, bad or not to your standards.
“The less we put them under the microscope, the better they’ll do. It’s virtually impossible not to talk about them given how well they are playing but I think the less we go on about it the better they’ll do.”
The Chelsea forward is not wrong - Saka has been under immense pressure to deliver the goods for England.
He scored a lovely brace in the 6-2 thrashing of Iran but did not have a good game against the USA.
Pundits, fans and everyone in between have lashed out at the Arsenal forward for his poor display - and one can see why Sterling wants people to leave them alone.
RELATED NEWS
'Probably his worst game in an England shirt': Saka blasted for poor performance in USA draw
"The two wide boys were poor," said Tony Cascarino on talkSPORT while reviewing England's 0-0 draw with the USA.
"[Raheem] Sterling one side and [Bukayo] Saka I thought probably had his worst game in an England shirt.
"I felt sorry for him because wingers need the ball early one thing you can’t to is keep passing the ball at the back and then give the winger the ball when he’s basically got the defender on top of him so what’s he going to do?
"The next pass is going to backwards or sideways. It was a one-paced performances in many many ways."
England tried to carve out chances but were unable to finish them off, with Matt Turner being rock-solid in the opponent's goal.
Saka did try to score but failed to do so, despite his brace in the 6-2 thrashing of Iran.
Latest news
