How the last six games really show which clubs are up and which are sinking
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By Nitram
Even before Arteta announced that Saka would be out for ‘many weeks’ with his hamstring injury, I saw one headline from Goal.com claiming that Arsenal had FAILED (they put it in capitals, not me) Saka by over-playing him.
But is that true? He has certainly played a lot of minutes, but has he been ‘over-played’, that is the question. And first off, what is being over-played? Surely that is a subjective term.
What I have found when something is fundamentally a subjective opinion, is that perspective is often the key. As such I thought the best way to get some of this perspective was to do a comparison between Saka and a player that is similarly vital to their team’s fortunes. In this case, Mo Salah of Liverpool.
I thought the simplest way to compare the two would be with minutes played. Surely that is the definitive measure as to whether a player has been ‘over-played’ or not isn’t it?
Mo Salah is 32 years old. Saka, at just 23 years of age, is nine years Salah’s junior. As such you would think Saka would be capable of playing at least as many minutes as Salah without any undue concern, so let’s see how they compare.
Season 24/25
Saka: in the Premier League he has played 16 games for 1276 minutes. In the Champions League he has played five games for 433 minutes. That makes a total of 21 games for a total of 1709 minutes
Salah on the other hand has played 16 games for 1407 minutes. In the Champions League he has played six games totalling 513 minutes, which makes a grand total of 22 games for a total of 1920 minutes
So Salah has played 211 minutes, or over two matches more than Saka.
For a little more perspective I thought I would look back a little further. Another four seasons in fact, back to Saka’s breakthrough season in 20/21 to see how both players have been used more long term.
This time I’ve only used the Premier League stats for seasons 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, and for 2023/24. Here are the findings…
Saka: Played 138 for 11,695 minutes
Salah: Played 129 for 11,678 minutes
So, although over the four seasons Saka has played 9 more matches than Salah, he has in fact only played 17 minutes more, or put another way, less than an average of 5 minutes more per season. Totally irrelevant in fact.
For even more perspective I also did some stats for Rodri at Man City.
He played 11,474 minutes over the same four seasons. Just 45 minutes per season less than Saka, which is again irrelevant. At 28 he too is quite a bit older than Saka.
The reason I have looked over these figures is because experience tells me Saka’s injury will be used as just another stick with which to beat us. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong, but I shall be very surprised if every other rag doesn’t pick up on the goals.com accusations over the next couple of days. It’s what they do.
But here’s the thing: playing their best players as much as they can, is also what managers do. History shows that these players are always used to the max.
That is because they are often as not, crucial to everything their respective teams do. It is a price these players pay, simply for being SO GOOD. Even playing alongside other World Class players they are more often than not, indispensable.
A manger is often damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t. Of course he wants to rest players such as Saka, but that is easier said than done when they are so vital to the team.
In conclusion, no Saka isn’t over-played. Nor is Salah and nor is Rodri. They are just indispensable.
None of this changes the fact that coping without Saka is certainly going to be a challenge. Let’s hope we can rise to it.
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How the last six games really show which clubs are up and which are sinking
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