‘Have to protect him’: Martin Keown says one Arsenal player needs to be subbed off more

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal have done well to maintain an unbeaten start to the season amidst a host of injuries, and so far they have been lucky that star player Bukayo Saka has managed to stay fit.

The winger starts every Premier League match, and usually appears for the full 90 minutes, but the knocks are starting to take their toll, with the 22-year-old being withdrawn with possible injuries in his last two appearances.

Saka is often targeted for heavy fouling by opposition defenders, and his lack of rotation may come back to bite Mikel Arteta if he ends up burning out or picking up an injury.

Saka needs to be substituted more

Speaking to TNT Sports, former Gunner Martin Keown has now claimed that Arteta needs to be more responsible over Saka’s fitness.

“I think you’ve gotta play him. The thing is he needs more protection. Everybody tries to get tight to him. Everyone’s leaving a bit on him,” Keown stated.

“This guy is tough as steel. He’s not one of them that will fall over. So, whenever I see him go down, I know it’s something real.

“He’s one of those players that we have to protect obviously, from an England point of view, from an Arsenal point of view. But you know he’s the player that is targeted. The manager, I’m sure will, whenever the team is ahead, try and get him off.

“I just feel that he’s one of those where you’ve got to try to read the scripts where you can get in front, and get him off sometimes.”

Arteta’s mistake against Bournemouth

There was some surprise when Saka played on until the 75th minute in Saturday’s victory over Bournemouth. The winger was fit for the game after missing the midweek clash against Brentford, and Arsenal were 3-0 up by the 60th minute.

The England star then received a heavy foul, and limped off the pitch, when he should have perhaps been substituted earlier anyway.

Arteta has received criticism for the decision to leave him on, and perhaps this was the straw that broke the camel’s back when it comes to assessing how much Saka plays.

Needlessly risking injury when the game was essentially won against Bournemouth, ahead of a week involving a Champions League trip and a match against Manchester City, was a strange move, and there may be more scrutiny over Saka’s minutes going forward.