Bukayo Saka has "given the game away" after revealing he spoke to the referee about the physical nature of the challenges he endured against Aston Villa, according to Danny Mills. The Arsenal star admitted in a post match interview after the 1-0 win earlier this month that he asked for "more protection" after being on the receiving end of some strong tackles from opposition players.
Villa boss Steven Gerrard took issue with Saka’s comments and insisted that physicality was part and parcel of football. And Mills believes that the 20-year-old’s comments have made him an easy target for more similar treatment.
"I agree with Gerrard, without a shadow of a doubt," Mills told Football Insider. "What Bukayo Saka has done now is made himself a target, as much as anything else.
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"I'm not advocating booting him off the park because if you do that you’re going to get red and yellow cards and nobody wants to see a player injured. But on the flip side, if you’re not quite as good as Saka then how do you stop him?"
The Gunners winger has been in sparkling form this season, scoring 10 goals and notching five assists in 33 appearances. As one of Arsenal’s better players he is bound to garner more attention from the opposition, and Mills believes players will now believe they can get a psychological edge over the England star.
He added: "If you can give away niggly fouls and be physical within the rules of the game and he doesn’t like it, then you get in his head and you know he doesn’t like it. For me, it’s almost like he’s given the game away a little bit.
"He's said: 'This is what I don’t like'. If you’re the opposition, you're going to do exactly like that."
