Bukayo Saka &#8211; CaughtOffside

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There’s still a long way to go, though, so Saka will need to keep on creating quality chances like this for Arsenal and hope that a few more of them end up hitting the back of the net.

The England international remains a hugely important player for Arsenal, but the club will no doubt be a bit concerned that he couldn’t complete 90 minutes yesterday with what might be another injury worry.

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Arsenal transfer news: Edu’s shock exit, Gyokeres and Lookman links, & more

Charles Watts — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 22:15:00 +0000

Edu’s shock exit will have an impact on Arteta

Edu’s imminent departure from Arsenal has certainly come as a surprise.

There have been whispers for a while about talks taking place with Evangelos Marinakis about a role overseeing his football group, but it was certainly not seen as a given that he would move on.

So his seemingly imminent exit has caught people off guard, with an official announcement from Arsenal about his future expected soon.

I’m flying out to Italy on Tuesday for the Champions League game with Inter and I will be at Mikel Arteta’s press conference, which is due to take place at San Siro at around 7pm.

It will be interesting to see if Arsenal make an announcement before then. I would expect that they will, just so they have something official out there before Arteta has to sit in front of a room full of journalists, but we’ll have to wait and see.

I’m still a bit torn myself in terms of how Edu’s departure will impact the club.

There is no doubt he has done a great job since his return to the club in 2019. Not every deal he has made has been a success, but the majority have worked out well and that’s all you can really ask for from a sporting director.

He and Arteta have worked very well together. They have been aligned in what they have wanted to do and together they have moved the club forward in a big, big way.

They have overhauled and built a squad that is now full of excellent young players that have had Arsenal challenging for the Premier League title for the past few seasons.

Arteta and Edu have a good relationship. They trust each other. Arteta knows they are on the same page and that is very important because it creates stability behind the scenes and that is absolutely vital.

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So Edu’s departure will impact Arteta. That’s obvious. But it shouldn’t be seen as a disaster.

Sporting directors come and go. It’s a role at football clubs which always comes with a pretty high turnover in terms of personnel. There are others out there that can do the job, so the important thing now is that the club chooses a successor wisely.

Arteta will have a strong say in that, along with Richard Garlick, Arsenal’s managing director and director Tim Lewis, who make up Arsenal’s football leadership team.

Making the right appointment is crucial. If they get it right, the new man could come in and bring a fresh outlook to the role which could help Arsenal in the long-run.

Mikel Arteta and Edu of Arsenal (Photo by Stu Forster, Julian Finney/Getty Images)

So it’s an interesting one to really assess right now. It’s a bit of a step into the unknown for Arsenal again after a period of stability under Arteta and Edu.

The unknown can be a bit daunting of course, but it can also be exciting. It’s just about making sure you make the right decision at the right time.

Something has to change for Arsenal to get back into the title race

Manchester City’s defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday did soften the blow somewhat of Arsenal’s defeat at Newcastle.

That defeat means that the gap to City is still just five points, which while being far from ideal, is also far from insurmountable at this early stage of the season.

One thing that is for sure, however, is that Arsenal are going to have to find some form fast if they are going to remain within touching distance of City and Liverpool at the top of the table.

The performance against Newcastle was worrying. It was just so, so flat. It was very similar to the Bournemouth game in many ways.

Could Arsenal replace Edu with the transfer guru who discovered Lewandowski & Gundogan? Click here to find out more!

There is a real lack of spark at Arsenal at the moment. Without Martin Odegaard it is tough to see where the creativity is going to come from.

Arsenal did OK in the immediate aftermath of Odegaard’s injury. Arteta rejigged things a bit, with the shift to a front two of Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard working quite well in the absence of their captain.

But it does feel like that tactic has run its course a bit. Teams seemed to have wised up to it and Trossard’s form has also fallen off a bit of a cliff in recent weeks.

And you can see – especially away from home – that Arsenal are looking quite easy to play against.

I just don’t think the midfield pairing of Declan Rice and Mikel Merino works very well. It might in the future, but right now with Merino still settling in and Rice far from his best form, it just makes Arsenal a bit one dimensional in the central areas.

It feels like the only way that something is going to happen is if Bukayo Saka gets on the ball. He’s the only real threat and you need more than that if you are going to open sides up at the top level.

So it feels like Arteta has to change something quickly if Arsenal are going to get back on track.

They have two very difficult away games to come this week, first at Inter in the Champions League and then at Chelsea on Sunday. If he does the same thing that he did at Bournemouth and at Newcastle, it’s difficult to see the results being any different.

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Odegaard is close to a return now which is a positive, but he’s going to need some time to get his fitness and sharpness back so you would expect he will be slowly eased back in.

So Arteta will need to find another solution. Whether that be trusting Ethan Nwaneri to start, or bringing in Gabriel Jesus or Raheem Sterling I don’t know. But it does feel important that he tries something new to get Arsenal out of this slump they find themselves in.

The title is not gone yet. There is still a lot of football to be played and a lot of points to be won.

But things have to improve quickly at Arsenal or they will soon find themselves too far off the pace and that will be incredibly disappointing given the ambitions the club had at the start of the season.

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Bukayo Saka makes demand to Arsenal teammates after Newcastle United defeat

Ahad Shaukat — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 15:34:53 +0000

Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat against Newcastle United in the Premier League in the early kick off on Saturday.

It was another damaging result for Mikel Arteta’s team, who have now been beaten by Bournemouth and Newcastle in the league, while they also lost points against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners are going through a mini crisis at the moment and they are seven points behind Liverpool in the league now.

They are missing some key players with fitness issues, including captain Martin Odegaard and defender Riccardo Calafiori but their troubles this season are not only because of those missing players but also because they have struggled to create enough chances.

They over rely on Bukayo Saka and his creativity and when the opponents manage to nullify the threat from the Arsenal right-wing, the Gunners look completely out of ideas, which was the case against the Magpies at St James’ Park.

Saka has a message for his Arsenal teammates and he posted that on his Instagram account.

He shared the score line of the defeat against Newcastle and posted the message:

“We stick together.”

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka’s message to his teammates.

Picture via: Instagram

The Gunners know that they are currently suffering and the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City have both managed to open up a lead on Mikel Arteta’s side.

With tough fixtures coming up in the Champions League and the Premier League, trips away to Inter Milan and Chelsea to be precise, Arteta would need his team to be at their best and grind results in the tough matches. The Arsenal manager showed support for his players in the post match interview, backing his attacking options.

Arsenal need positive results to stay in the title race

Newcastle, on the other hand, were five games without a win before facing the Gunners but a first half goal from Alexander Isak gave Eddie Howe a much needed win and relieved some pressure on him.

The next few weeks could decide the course of the season for Arsenal and whether they will challenge for the league title for a third straight season.

They need improvements in all the positions but most importantly, they need creativity from the middle of the park and that is something only Odegaard could provide in their team.

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Mikel Arteta’s woes continue with huge Arsenal problem on the horizon

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 10:54:49 +0000

Injuries and suspensions to key players have already derailed the chance for Arsenal to build up a head of steam this season, and there are more problems on the horizon for Mikel Arteta and his squad.

Ethan Nwaneri’s contribution to the Gunners Carabao Cup win over Preston saw the youngster gain some plaudits from his manager, but it’s that win which is going to cause issues.

“You have to…” – Arne Slot admits Liverpool star couldn’t handle “outstanding” Arsenal man

Mark Brus — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 10:34:52 +0000

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has admitted he simply had to give credit to Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka for the quality he showed for his goal against the Reds yesterday.

Saka returned to the Arsenal starting line up after a recent injury, and it didn’t take him long to show his world class ability with a fantastic bit of skill and finish to make it 1-0 to the Gunners.

Speaking after the game, Slot said he felt Saka was “outstanding” at times in yesterday’s game at the Emirates Stadium, making it clear he didn’t particularly blame Andrew Robertson for failing to do better on that opening goal.

Saka certainly enjoyed himself against the Liverpool left-back, and it seems Slot doesn’t blame his players too much for simply coming up against such a quality opponent who was too difficult to handle on the day.

Bukayo Saka before Arsenal’s game against Liverpool (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Arne Slot’s praise for “outstanding” Bukayo Saka

“Yeah, the first goal was an example of this where you saw the quality of Saka,” Slot said, as quoted by the Metro.

“Maybe we had to do better but sometimes you have to give credit to these special wingers who are playing these games and I think Saka, especially in the first half, played an outstanding game.

“Then to be 2-1 down, although I didn’t think they so many other opportunities but they were by far the better team in the first half.

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“Then, I wouldn’t say it surprised me because I know these players, but with one day less to recover than Arsenal having played an away leg [in the Champions League on Wednesday], and to show up the second half in the way we did, with the intensity we played with, that was very pleasing to see.”

Saka has a generally strong record against Liverpool, having also scored against them in the home league fixture from last season, and twice in the previous campaign.

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“I just feel…” – Arsenal star aims subtle dig at Mikel Arteta’s tactics against Liverpool

Mark Brus — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 19:18:54 +0000

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka has hinted that Mikel Arteta might have gone too defensive in the second half of today’s game against Liverpool.

The Gunners went in front twice against the Reds, but had to settle for a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium, and it seems Saka isn’t satisfied with how the team played.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the England international, who opened the scoring with a superb strike early on, said he felt Arsenal didn’t show the best version of themselves, and that they sunk back too much, which gave Liverpool more momentum as the game went on…

"We feel like we didn't show our best selves."

Bukayo Saka says Arsenal are disappointed with their second half performance and the result against Liverpool ? pic.twitter.com/AeTa0ZVMcl

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 27, 2024

Arteta could have perhaps done more to keep Arsenal in control of this game, but the Spanish tactician also arguably had his hands tied a bit due to the long list of injuries he was contending with.

Martin Odegaard has been out for a while, and William Saliba was also suspended for this match, while Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber ended up going off injured during the game.

Will this end up being a good point for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal?

Did Bukayo Saka aim a dig at Mikel Arteta’s tactics? (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Arsenal have had a good record against Liverpool in recent times, beating them in their last two league meetings at home before today, so that might perhaps contribute to the feeling of disappointment from Saka here.

Still, the season is long and nothing will be decided in October, so AFC will have plenty of other opportunities to get big wins that can help them keep up with Manchester City and Liverpool in the title race.

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The Gunners have arguably had the toughest fixtures so far, having already played Manchester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa away, and they’ve now got Liverpool at home out of the way too.

As long as they keep players like Saka fit they’ll surely be in the mix come May.

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Arsenal v Liverpool player ratings as 3/10 Reds star ‘shredded’ but Salah saves the day again

CJ — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 18:31:38 +0000

Title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool played out a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners twice took the lead, first through a sensational early strike from Bukayo Saka, then just before half-time as Mikel Merino headed home a Declan Rice free-kick.

However, Liverpool twice fought back to take a share of the points, with Virgil van Dijk heading home from close range in the first half and Mohamed Salah converting inside the box late in the second half.

The result probably plays into the hands of defending champions and leaders Manchester City more than anyone else, but neither side can be too disgruntled with a point in a pulsating match between two elite sides.

Here are the full player ratings from the Emirates Stadium:

Arsenal vs Liverpool player ratings: Mohamed Salah saves the day

Arsenal player ratings (4-2-3-1)

Mikel Merino scored his first Arsenal goal against Liverpool. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

David Raya – 6/10 – Made a couple of decent stops and could do nothing about the goals.

Thomas Partey – 8/10 – Filled in brilliantly at full-back, making a match-high five tackles, only being dribbled past twice and winning more duels (13) than any other player.

Ben White – 8/10 – A superb pass for Saka’s goal and looked just as comfortable defensively at centre-back as he does at right-back.

Gabriel – 7/10 – Came off early into the second half after a collision with Darwin Nunez. Had won all five of his combined aerial and ground duels and will be a huge miss for Arsenal if he’s out long-term.

Jurrien Timber – 7/10 – Had a couple of scary moments up against Salah but, on the whole, did a great job limiting the Egyptian forward. Came off injured late on but doesn’t look serious.

Mikel Merino – 8/10 – Opened his Arsenal account with a great header from Declan Rice’s perfect cross. Probably should have scored 20 minutes earlier as well, but a strong all-round performance.

Declan Rice – 8/10 – Was a menace with his set pieces, while he put in a mountain of work both with and without the ball.

Bukayo Saka – 9/10 – Made one of the best left-backs on the planet look like he played for the Dog and Gun Sunday League team with his goal. Continued to terrorise the Liverpool defence thereafter and only really started showing signs he’d come straight back from injury late into the second half.

Leandro Trossard – 6/10 – Showed quite a few bright moments of quality on the ball without influencing things too much.

Gabriel Martinelli – 5/10 – Showed a terrible lack of composure when the ball broke for him in the final third and was wasteful with the ball, completing just 61% of his passes.

Kai Havertz – 6/10 – Made a nuisance of himself as always, but missed a couple of decent half-chances.

Substitutes

Jakub Kiwior (54′, for Gabriel) – 4/10 – Not close enough to Lewis-Skelly to get over and help him on Salah’s goal.

Myles Lewis-Skelly (76′, for Timber) – 4/10 – Well out of position on Salah’s goal, punished ruthlessly by a world-class Alexander-Arnold pass.

Gabriel Jesus (85′, for Saka) – 6/10 – Fired one powerful shot straight at Kelleher but didn’t get into the game otherwise.

Ethan Nwaneri (85′, for Martinelli) – 6/10 – A couple of flashes of talent but needed more time.

Liverpool player ratings (4-3-3)

Mohamed Salah scored a late equaliser for Liverpool. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Caoimhin Kelleher – 5/10 – Helpless for the two goals but did everything else asked of him, although he was unusually sloppy with some of his long passing.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8/10 – Whipped in an excellent corner to help set up Van Dijk’s equaliser and then found an excellent pass to set Liverpool away on Salah’s goal. Excellent bookends to what was an otherwise below-average performance by his standards. But isn’t football all about moments?

Ibrahima Konate – 7/10 – Kept busy but did a decent job in extended periods of Arsenal pressure.

Virgil van Dijk – 7/10 – Marked up for his goal and putting in a decent overall performance. But maybe he should try sprinting to help out Robertson when faced with Saka one-on-one?

Andy Robertson – 3/10 – Was ‘shredded‘ by Saka on the opening goal, but needed help from Van Dijk. Ineffective going forward, failing to create a chance or complete any of his three attempted crosses.

Curtis Jones – 6/10 – Neat and tidy with the ball but far too safe with it. Didn’t build on his stunning performance against Chelsea last weekend.

Ryan Gravenberch – 5/10 – Felt like the game bypassed him a little, which is surprising given how immense he’s been this season.

Alexis Mac Allister – 4/10 – Failed to get into the match at all and was taken off just after the hour mark having been booked.

Mohamed Salah – 8/10 – Allowed only a couple of brief openings, but took full advantage of his biggest chance deep into the second half. That’s what elite players do.

Darwin Nunez – 7/10 – Tried his best to make a mess of the pass to Salah for his goal but he pulled it off, saving what was a tough afternoon previously for the Uruguayan.

Luis Diaz – 6/10 – A great flick-on for Van Dijk’s goal but was otherwise well-marshalled by Partey.

Substitutes

Kostas Tsimikas (63′, for Robertson) – 7/10 – Seemed to add more stability and energy to the left flank, although it must be said, Saka started to run out of steam shortly after the Greek’s introduction.

Dominik Szoboszlai (63′, for Mac Allister) – 5/10 – Hit one shot so far wide it wasn’t even credited as a shot by the stat gurus. Didn’t do much else.

Cody Gakpo (63′, for Diaz) – 6/10 – Some tidy touches and dangerous runs without being decisive.

Wataru Endo (90′, for Jones) – 6/10 – Came on at the end to help secure the point.

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‘On toast’: Alan Shearer says Bukayo Saka made a mockery of £160k-p/w Liverpool player

Farrell Keeling — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 18:17:46 +0000

Andy Robertson had a particularly difficult first-half showing against Bukayo Saka during Liverpool’s league clash with Arsenal, as was evidenced by Alan Shearer’s half-time punditry.

The Scotland international was at fault for the Gunners’ opening goal within the first 10 minutes of action at the Emirates Stadium.

A sensational long-range ball found the England star with acres of space on the right flank, which was gratefully capitalised on.

Alan Shearer unimpressed with Andy Robertson v Arsenal

(Photos by Shaun Botterill & Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Alan Shearer mirrored the critique of Robertson offered on X (formerly Twitter) by James Benge during the half-time break.

The 54-year-old noted that Saka appeared to have his defensive opponent (on a reported £160,000-a-week, according to Capology) ‘on toast’ judging by their opening contest.

“He’s given Andy Robertson a horrible time. Every time he’s got the ball, you can just hear the excitement, you can feel his confidence and belief that he knows he’s got,” the former Newcastle star spoke on Optus Sport.

“He’s got Andy Robertson on toast.”

Did Andy Robertson really struggle against Saka?

Perhaps the biggest indication that Robertson struggled to deliver on this occasion at the Emirates Stadium was Arne Slot’s decision to hook the Scot at the 63rd-minute mark.

The Dutch head coach showed a similar level of decisiveness in the Reds’ season opener against Ipswich Town with Jarell Quansah then taking the fall.

The stats would indicate that the former Hull City left-back didn’t have a diabolical showing in North London, though it’s hardly a performance to shout about.

Sofascore handed the footballer a 6.4/10 rating after winning 3/6 duels (air and ground) contested, completing 73% of his passes (16/22) and losing possession nine times.

Not quite the hard-battling outing you’d expect from Liverpool’s 2017 summer signing in a game of serious significance to both outfits, you’d have to say!

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“Liverpool weren’t expecting it” – How Arsenal star in unfamiliar role led to Gunners goal

Mark Brus — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 18:01:14 +0000

Liverpool were perhaps taken by surprise by Ben White’s pass out from defence today that led to the opening goal for Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka.

White doesn’t normally play centre-back for Arsenal, but he had to start there today for Mikel Arteta’s side due to William Saliba being out suspended following last weekend’s red card against Bournemouth.

Still, see below as Arsenal-focused Telegraph journalist Sam Dean points out on X, formerly Twitter, that the pass by White to Saka was not necessarily the kind of ball Saliba would have played, so it perhaps ended up being a blessing in disguise for Arsenal as Liverpool weren’t expecting it…

Quite interested in that Ben White pass for Bukayo Saka's goal. I'm not sure William Saliba would have played that pass from that position? Different players, different skill sets etc. Perhaps Liverpool weren't expecting it.

— Sam Dean (@SamJDean) October 27, 2024

Arsenal have plenty of quality depth in their squad these days, and it’s pretty remarkable that, so far at least, they’re not missing Saliba too much, even though the France international is world class and usually a hugely important player for the team.

White is another quality player even if he’s not in his best position, so that’s not a bad option for Arteta to rely on while Saliba is out.

Ben White in action for Arsenal against Liverpool (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Arsenal facing further defensive issues against Liverpool

As well as Saliba being out, Arsenal are now also without Gabriel Magalhaes as he limped off early in the second half to be replaced by Jakub Kiwior.

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This could end up being a long second half for the Gunners, but, as the White pass for the Saka goal showed, you never know what other qualities you might get from the player replacing your first choice.

Arsenal have done well so far to mostly dominate this game, though they were perhaps a little more defensively suspect than usual when Virgil van Dijk headed home a corner for LFC earlier in the game.

Thankfully, Bukayo Saka returned from injury to start today’s game, so that attacking threat remains for the home side as they chase an important three points.

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“I would have expected…” – Gary Neville blames surprise Liverpool player for Arsenal goal

Mark Brus — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 17:35:03 +0000

Gary Neville singled out Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk as the player to blame for the first goal scored by Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka in today’s big Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium.

Saka finished superbly for the Gunners after turning Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson inside out, but Neville felt it was Van Dijk who should also have got back there to support his teammate.

Van Dijk ended up equalising for Liverpool not long after the Saka goal, though Mikel Merino ended up heading Arsenal back in front later on.

Both goals were well worked by Mikel Arteta’s side, with Saka’s moment of quality making for a great start to the game, while another superbly-worked set piece by the north London giants made it 2-1 not long before half time, setting up an exciting second half ahead of us.

Bukayo Saka and Virgil van Dijk (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Still, could Van Dijk be a bit of a weakness in this Liverpool defence at the moment? Neville was perhaps a bit harsh on the Dutchman, but suggested it was more him than Robertson to blame for that opening goal by Saka.

Gary Neville on Virgil van Dijk failing to get back for Bukayo Saka’s goal

Speaking during commentary for Sky Sports, as quoted by the Daily Mirror, Neville said: “It is so, so good. There was a nutmeg and then the finish…emphatic. But I would have expected my left-sided centre-half (Van Dijk) to get there.”

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