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Pundit says there’s one criticism he has of Bukayo Saka after Arsenal win at Aston Villa
Any concerns over Bukayo Saka would handle the start of the new Premier League season after the demands of a title race and a summer which saw him reach the final of Euro 2024 have surely been put to bed within Arsenal’s first two games.
Bukayo Saka has been the standout performer for the Gunners in their wins over Wolves and Aston Villa, with one goal and two assists coming for the 22-year-old. He also played a crucial role in Arsenal’s first goal at Villa Park at the weekend.
There have previously been concerns about whether Saka needs a proper rest after looking weary at times in the last couple of years. But he looks to be raring to go at the beginning of this campaign as Mikel Arteta‘s men look to clear that final hurdle that has proved to be just too big for them in the last two seasons.
Alan Shearer believes Saka could score 20 goals this season. But perhaps there is one aspect of his game which requires a bit of attention if the youngster is going to continue to be Arsenal’s game-changer.
Pundit has one criticism of Bukayo Saka after Arsenal win
Speaking on , Jay Bothroyd suggested that there is something that he would like to see Saka do much more often.
“He does what he does. The thing with Saka, the only criticism that I would give Saka, and I love Saka as a player, is that when he plays against bigger teams and they seem to double up on him, I think he needs to be that kind of player, like Foden when teams are doubling up on him in the wide areas, he’ll drift inside a lot more without the ball. I’m not talking about with the ball, without the ball, and pick up the ball in between the lines and then other players will go in that area. I think, maybe, he needs to do that a bit more. But Saka’s a great player, he’s so difficult to play against, he goes on the outside, he goes on the inside, he links up with Odegaard so well. He’s a joy to watch,” he said.
“You know the first few games in the Euros, I felt like he was just staying wide all the time and he was just happy to stay wide and wait for the ball to come to him rather than, the likes of Vinicius for example, Foden, players like that that do play on the wings, they’re not waiting wide for the ball to come to them. They’ll come inside and get involved in the game if the ball’s not coming.”
In Gunners star’s defence…
Saka may argue that the numbers suggest that he is doing brilliantly as he is, with 41 league goals coming across the previous three campaigns. Meanwhile, he had provided 27 assists in that time. He has been directly involved 85 goals in 172 Premier League games during his career.
And when it comes to the European Championship, Saka surely had to be wary of how much quality England had in those forward areas. He was playing alongside the likes of Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham while Harry Kane needs little encouragement to drop deep and get involved in the play.
So it was arguably particularly important that Saka was prepared to stretch the play by staying wide, and it paid off with the Arsenal man arguably proving to be England’s best attacking player at the tournament.
Perhaps he could vary his game a little more, but, in truth, knowing what Saka is likely to do does not appear to be doing Premier League defenders many favours.