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TalkSPORT pundit says teams have ‘worked out’ how to defend against 22-year-old Arsenal player
TalkSPORT pundit Dean Saunders believes teams have worked out how to defend against Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka now.
Arsenal suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Fulham on Sunday after taking an early lead in the game.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring inside five minutes. But Arsenal failed to stamp their authority on the game thereafter.
The defeat rounded off a miserable festive period for the Gunners, where they picked up one point from three games.
There have been concerns over Arsenal’s attacking play, with both Saka and Gabriel Martinelli not at their best right now.
Indeed, Gary Neville recently stated that Mikel Arteta’s front three of Gabriel Jesus, Saka and Martinelli could cost them this term.
And Dean Saunders believes that is down to opposition sides limiting Saka to less space on the flank.
Saunders says teams have worked out how to defend against Saka
Speaking on , Saunders stated that teams have worked out how to defend against Saka by showing him down the outside.
“Do you worry though that Saka and Martinelli, look last season they were exhilarating and they haven’t quite been at that level,” Jeff Stelling asked.
Saunders responded: “Well, when you’re playing inverted wingers, which by the way would drive me around the bend if I was a centre-forward, and the winger keeps coming inside and shooting when you’re trying to get in between the two centre-backs.
“And that’s what you rely on to get those goals. So, obviously, now teams have worked it out.
“They say to the left-back, send Saka down the line, don’t let him come inside you on his left foot and if he does, defensive midfield player gets alongside me so two of us can get him down the line.
“People are aware of what their strengths are coming infield. But if you watch how Arsenal play, they play like Manchester City. They get the ball wide, they get around the box and they played little intricate one-twos.
“Odegaard, Saka and maybe Ben White’s just supporting him at the minute he’s not overlapping him.”
While Saka hasn’t been at his best this season, he’s still managed 13 goal involvements in 19 league games.
The 22-year-old continues to provide in the final third and has arguably been Arsenal’s best attacker this term.
But Saunders makes a great point that teams have started to double up on the Hale End Academy product, which has limited the amount of space he creates down the right-hand side.
Arteta will surely be keen to find a solution for this, particularly with Martinelli struggling on the opposite flank due to similar reasons.