Jose Mourinho has questioned why Raheem Sterling and other more experienced England players did not step up to take a penalty ahead of Bukayo Saka.
Saka missed the decisive penalty as England suffered a heartbreaking shootout defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 Final at Wembley.
The 19-year-old Arsenal midfielder was selected by Gareth Southgate to take England’s fifth penalty and had his effort saved by Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
“For Saka to have the destiny of a country on his shoulders, I think it is too much for a kid to have everything on his shoulders in this moment,” Mourinho told TalkSport.
“But I do not know if I have to ask that question to Gareth or not. Because many times what happens is that players who should be there, they are not there. Players who should be there, they run away from responsibility.
“Gareth is such an honest guy and a protective coach that I do not believe he would ever say Player A or Player B ran away or told me they were not ready to [take a penalty].
“I do not know in this case, but I do not think it matters if you are a great penalty taker or not. In this situation, where was Sterling? Where was [John] Stones? Where was Luke Shaw?
“And why did [Jordan] Henderson or [Kyle] Walker not stay on the pitch? In reality it is very hard for [Marcus] Rashford and [Jadon] Sancho to come and take a penalty after one touch of the ball.”
