Bukayo Saka left England manager Thomas Tuchel with egg on his face after returning to play the full 90 minutes and score a hat-trick against France.
Saka’s heroics ensured England left the World Cup as bronze medal winners.
Aside from Saka getting the goals, though, question marks are now being asked as to why Saka was not involved at all against Argentina.
Instead, Tuchel went with Morgan Rogers and then subbed on a number of defenders instead of introducing Saka as England crashed out.
Now, though, after seeing Saka score three against France, Tuchel has tried to justify his call.
Thomas Tuchel explains the ‘feeling’ he had with Morgan Rogers for England v Argentina
Saka’s hat-trick here left Tuchel wide open to questions about the semi-final. And the journalists didn’t wait long to get their questions in.
Speaking to the BBC, Tuchel was asked about Saka and why he didn’t play against Argentina.
However, the England boss doubled down and simply suggested it was down to a gut feeling.
“He did everything right. I had a feeling in the semi-final for Rogers. That he would be involved in something special. That was it,” Tuchel admitted.
“The games in itself demands so much, so much focus on changes because of cramps and flow of the games.
“Bukayo showed that he is a key player. There is never a doubt. I wasn’t aware he had a hat-trick. I lost the overview of the goalscorers, but brilliant for him and well deserved. He showed he is a top player.”
What Bukayo Saka said about Thomas Tuchel after scoring a hat-trick v France
In the interviews from both Tuchel and Saka, there was a feeling in there of regret from both sides.
Tuchel can say all he wants about his feeling for Rogers but deep down, he’ll know he got it wrong.
As for the Arsenal man, Saka commented both on his fitness and the manager afterwards.
“Of course I would love to have played more but it’s too late to talk about that. I try to do my talking on the pitch and it’s done now, move on. I’m fit,” Saka said.
Be honest: Would you have been happy if Arsenal spent £117m on Morgan Rogers?
Speaking directly about comments levelled towards Tuchel, Saka also suggested it’s just part and parcel of football.
“I think that’s just part of the game. When you win there’s going to be noise, when you win there’s going to be noise, it’s how you react to it, how you use it as fuel and today we finished strong and that’s all we could really do and we did that.”
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