Mikel Arteta used yesterday’s press conference to defend Bukayo Saka after the winger’s below-par performance against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.
Starting in his usual position on the right, the England international struggled to influence the game against a disciplined Leverkusen side who had clearly earmarked him for special attention. His impact during the Champions League group phase had not gone unnoticed.
While his passing was generally tidy, much of it went backwards. When he tried to take on defenders, he often lost possession, doing so a remarkable 14 times over the course of the evening. Despite wearing the captain’s armband, it was no surprise when Arteta withdrew him in the second half. Noni Madueke replaced him and went on to make a telling contribution, winning the penalty that allowed Arsenal to snatch a draw.
“With B, we fully trust him and love him,” said manager Mikel Arteta when asked about Saka’s display.
“What he’s doing for us, for this club, is just incredible at his age, and he continues to have that massive impact for us.
“He can have an individual performance that is not probably a reflection of his level, like every human, every player in the world. But overall, when you look at his strength and the input he has in the team, it’s just incredible.”
So far this season, Saka, who recently signed a new deal, has nine goals and seven assists from 39 appearances, totalling 2,599 minutes on the pitch. That is already close to the 2,619 minutes he managed last season, when he spent almost three months sidelined after hamstring surgery. His numbers then were 12 goals and 14 assists.
Even so, the headline figures do not tell the whole story. The 24-year-old might easily have added several more assists had teammates, rather than opponents, converted a few promising chances this season.
At his best, Saka has been part of a dependable right-sided unit alongside Martin Odegaard and one of the full-backs, Ben White or Jurrien Timber. This season, though, that combination has rarely been available. Both Odegaard and White have missed significant stretches through injury, while Saka’s understanding with Viktor Gyokeres has sometimes looked less fluid than the partnership he built with Kai Havertz.
Asked whether those changes had affected Saka, Arteta said: “Yes, I mean we have changed that unit a lot, much more than in recent years.
“The amount of games and minutes that he’s played now, I think it’s a bit more than already the whole of last season.
“So we just have to understand the demands that we are putting on players as well, and that’s another thing that obviously, when we talk about the beauty of the game and all these things, all these things affect certain things for sure.”