Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka has now revealed that he is regularly facing one new challenge this season.
Against Brentford on Saturday, Bukayo Saka once again found himself facing excessive attention from the opposition defenders, who were all determined to limit the Arsenal man’s space and stifle his ability to impact the match.
Due to this, Saka was frustrated in his efforts make a difference in the final third for most of the match. The Bees did an admirable job of shackling the 22-year-old for a long time. As per WhoScored statistics, the Hale End academy graduate did not a manage a single shot, or complete a single dribble in the match.
However, despite the hosts’ best efforts, Saka was still able to make a telling contribution. In the 89th minute, with the Gunners in dire need of a goal to finally break the deadlock, Saka was able to manoeuvre into some space for himself and deliver an inch-perfect cross to the far post, where Kai Havertz was arriving to nod the ball into the net.
The goal secured a hard-fought 1-0 win for the north London club, and sent them to the top of the Premier League table, with Saka to thank for finally finding a way to unlock the Brentford defence.
After the match, Brentford boss Thomas Frank admitted that his side had made stopping Saka a priority, with the same attention also being paid to Gabriel Martinelli on the opposite flank. This will not have come as a surprise to either Arsenal winger though.
Arsenal helping Bukayo Saka find new solutions
After the match, Saka admitted that he is now being doubled-up on by defenders regularly. As quoted by The Standard, the 32-cap England international said, “I feel like a lot of games I’m facing a double team with two guys on me and it’s the same for Gabi [Martinelli].”
“It’s happening in every game. I keep watching all my games back trying to find a solution, what I can do better.”
“In the end I just feel like I need to understand that this is how it’s going to be this season and I just need to deal with it and keep finding a way like I did today. That’s what I need to keep doing.”
Saka clearly is finding solutions to this problem on a regular basis. He has been in fine form so far this season, with six goals and nine assists to his name already from eighteen outings, across all competitions.
Mikel Arteta and the rest of the Arsenal coaching staff are clearly working closely with Saka at London Colney to help him overcome the extra attention he is now habitually being afforded by defenders. If and when he becomes able to overcome this challenge routinely, and earlier on in matches, it is hard to see how defenders will ever be able to stop him.
However, Saka should not simply be left to his own devices on the pitch. The likes of Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Martin Odegaard all need to be able to get close enough to the wide man to ensure he is not constantly at a numerical disadvantage.
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