In a sport where so much can change week to week, perspective becomes crucial.
That does exempt players, managers and clubs from criticism when they fall short, but when the noise swells, a moment of reflection can lead to better judgement. Noise always accompanies Arsenal, but after the below-par performances of recent weeks, the volume has been turned up on Bukayo Saka.
The winger, who signed a new deal in January, found himself in an unusual position after an hour of the Champions League quarter-final away leg against Bayer Leverkusen, when he was the first Arsenal player substituted by Mikel Arteta.
Saka had not imposed himself on the game, and Arteta’s decision was proven right as the replacement, Noni Madueke, won a crucial penalty to rescue a first-leg draw. The Carabao Cup final defeat against Manchester City was a collective shortcoming by Arsenal, but the spotlight turned to Saka as he could not do what he has done so often throughout his professional career: carry the team.
By his standards, a tally of nine goals and five assists this season is considered an off-year, and discussions are widening to how the 24-year-old’s season has gone in general. Is Saka as effective as he once was? Has his three-month hamstring injury from last season had an impact? Is it more of a team problem than a player issue? As with most things in football, there is a mixture of factors to consider.
Only Saka can say how he is feeling physically, but there is no hiding that he has been asked to carry Arsenal on his shoulders. Before he tore his hamstring in December 2024, between the ages of 18 and 22, he ranked in the club’s top two most-used outfield players in three out of four seasons.
Saka full-season mins pre-injury
|
Season |
Minutes played |
Starts |
Team rank (exc. GKs) |
Ages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2020-21 |
3,592 |
41 |
2 |
18-19 |
|
2021-22 |
3,343 |
40 |
1 |
19-20 |
|
2022-23 |
3,733 |
42 |
2 |
20-21 |
|
2023-24 |
3,844 |
46 |
6 |
21-22 |
The extent of the demands goes beyond just minutes played, but also extreme shifts in certain matches, as was highlighted back in 2021. The rest dilemma was prevalent with Emile Smith Rowe, too, who suffered and ended up requiring surgery due to growth-related discomfort with his pubic bone. Without backup for Saka, between May 2021 and October 2023 (aged 19-21), he played 87 consecutive Premier League matches, breaking Paul Merson’s club record.
Reinforcements finally arrived in the shape of Madueke and Max Dowman this season, helping manage Saka’s exposure. Particularly in the winter months, if Arsenal had three matches in a week, Arteta would start Saka on the bench in at least one. Even with this more careful approach, Saka has already played more minutes this season (2,867) than last (2,607).
When asked about players, including Saka, joining this international camp late, England head coach Thomas Tuchel said: “More important than the pure number of minutes is that some of these guys have already played more minutes than the whole last season and there is still a lot of football to play.
“All of these players have contributed in September, October and November (for England), so they have a bit of credit with me. To give them a break, mentally and physically, we will benefit from it.”
A period of recharging could be exactly what Saka needs.
His output this season has not been what it was in previous years. Hitting double figures for goals and assists in the Premier League became the norm between 2021 and 2025, but this term has been different. He did not make his first assist of the season until matchday 13 against Chelsea on November 30, but that did not tell the full story.
In matches such as Fulham away, Saka did not register a goal or an assist but his driving runs at the full-back helped build momentum. He would flash the ball across the six-yard box, but Viktor Gyokeres failed to convert (see below for examples against West Ham United in October and Wolverhampton Wanderers in December).
Even now, Saka ranks fifth in the league for chances created (52) and fourth for chances created from open play (44). His 5.76 expected assists ranks him sixth in the league. Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki ranks second with 6.62, showing how tight those leaderboards can be, and has eight league assists this season. Saka has three assists, suggesting he is creating high-quality chances that are not always being converted.
After February’s north London derbyhe became the first player to create more than 40 chances and complete more than 40 take-ons in the Premier League this season. All-encompassing performances, such as those away to Tottenham Hotspur or Fulham, or both legs against Real Madrid last season, are examples of the weight that these metrics carry. Jeremy Doku (63 take-ons, 42 chances created), Elliot Anderson (40, 48) and Pedro Neto (40, 44) have since joined Saka (52, 49) as the league’s most prevalent dual threats.
But there have been moments, as in the first half of Sunday’s cup final, when it felt like Saka was failing to take opportunities to run at an opposition left-back. Part of that apparent reticence can be explained by how differently Arsenal are playing this season. Compare the types of situations Saka receives the ball now to two or three years ago, and the picture is almost inverted.
In the example below from the November 2024 win against West Ham, Martin Odegaard is supplying the ball from deep, Ben White is providing natural width and Saka has drifted into a central area. He takes one touch to escape the West Ham defender, and another to finish. Simple.
This season, two patterns have occurred too often. The first is Saka receiving passes on the touchline with no real passing options around him, such as below in the first leg against Leverkusen.
When Arsenal and Saka have been at their best, those passes were played infield so he can receive them while already in motion heading towards goal. White would usually be the one playing these passes, as seen below from the 1-0 win against Crystal Palace in October, from a wider position.
Now, Jurrien Timber is more likely to be the one inside with Saka out wide. After 31 league games, Saka and Gyokeres (eight each) are joint-first for Opta-defined ‘big chances’ missed, but Timber ranks second (seven), showing just how often he is in forward positions.
Arteta’s recent tweak of using Saka as a ‘No 10’ (central attacking midfielder) did seem to help. The manager felt moving infield brought Saka “closer to the goal”. “He can interchange positions with the wide player as well,” Arteta said in his post-match press conference following the 4-0 win against Wigan Athletic
The rate Arsenal get the ball into Saka has dipped in tandem with the absences of Odegaard and White, who have suffered from multiple injuries over the past 18 months. In 2022-23 and 2023-24, they averaged 16 progressive passes into Saka per game, whereas that dropped to eight last season, and is at 11 for this season.
With Eberechi Eze out for at least a month, Odegaard not yet back in training and Mikel Merino out for the foreseeable future, Saka’s central exploits could be a solution. He would provide a different profile to Kai Havertz while also occupying areas that he would previously roam into from the right.
The performances against City and Leverkusen (away) were not his best but Saka was the one to open the scoring away to Wolves and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Negative attention may turn to him when things are not going as planned, but he has produced moments that show why Arteta was unequivocal this month when he said: “He can have an individual performance that is not a reflection of his level, like every human and player in the world, but when you look at his strength and the impact he has on the team, it’s just incredible.”
With two big months left to close what could be a defining season, it will be down to many people and players to ensure it is a spring to remember for Arsenal. Saka is one of them, but after years of carrying the club’s hopes on his back, who can blame him if he needs some help over the line?
