The signing of Martin Zubimendi was an early Christmas present for Arsenal fans, making the confirmation, the announcement and even the weeks and months leading up to the signing feel so anticlimactic that its importance was almost completely obscured.
Chronology is an important driver of emotion. When you draw a game 2-2 from 2-0 down, it feels a lot better than… maybe it’s best I don’t go there today. Saka’s contract comes in the wake of new deals for Saliba and Gabriel and the latest indication of confidence in ‘the project’ from this group too. While we may all be feeling a little drunk this week, it’s worth reflecting on the fact that these players have been bought.
As Andrew pointed out this morning, Saka’s performance at this point in the season is not where most of us expected. I think there are explainable reasons for this that go beyond Andrew’s point: when none of the attackers are shooting, the problems usually lie a little deeper.
In Saka’s case, I think health has been the biggest hindrance to his performance. The literal and mental scars of his torn hamstring from last season still cast a shadow over this season, not necessarily in the player’s mind (although I would understand if it took some time for him to trust his body again), but in the way he is managed.
There has been some talk lately about Arsenal players getting injured in warm-ups and I think this illustrates the extent to which Mikel Arteta and his staff have been extremely careful in managing players’ fitness. They now have a big enough squad to not take any risks and I think the slightest sign of a twitch will be out of place and they will make the decision to withdraw the player.
I also think William Saliba’s fourth-minute substitution at Anfield in August could have had an impact here. Saliba apparently felt a twinge during the warm-up that day and started the match anyway, but was substituted in the 4th minute. The Frenchman was out for three weeks. The fact that Gabriel, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka’s hamstrings all exploded after Christmas last season has very clearly defined the policy this season.
Arteta has opted for depth and careful management. This was also a theme of Saka’s season. He has played the full 90 minutes in 16 of his 38 appearances so far this season and has come on as a substitute 10 times. He averages 65 minutes per appearance. Last season he averaged 72 minutes per appearance (and in the last five weeks of the season he made his return after a long absence).
In 2023/24 this was 79 minutes per appearance, in 2022/23 it was 74 minutes (all this data includes England matches). Arsenal spent around £50 million on Noni Madueke last summer and it was one of the first signings they made. There has been a clear attempt to better manage Saka’s workload. Saka is one of the players who limped during a warm-up at Elland Road this season.
I firmly believe that in another season Saka would have been patched up and played on. But with Madueke in reserve, Arteta felt less inclined to take a risk. While this approach is being modeled throughout the team, I think Arteta specifically wants Saka to be in top condition for the ‘playoff’ part of the season after the March international break.
In the shorter term, I think this cost Saka his rhythm. This is a player who is used to playing every minute of every game (which probably contributed to his hamstring exploding) and is adapting to that rhythm being interrupted. That might serve him better in the long run, but in the short term it’s an adjustment for him.
Players’ bodies acclimate to the workload they receive. If you look at attacking heavyweights like Ronaldo, Messi, Salah and Haaland, they are used to high workloads and rarely get injured. However, there is also the risk of suffering the fate of similarly gifted players like Ronaldo, van Basten and Neymar, whose careers (both theoretically and literally) ended at an earlier time than their talents deserved.
In addition to personal rhythm, Saka has fallen victim to a general lack of rhythm in the Arsenal attack. While we have a very good idea that the likes of Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Rice, Zubimendi and Raya will start at the base of the team, there are more choices further forward and the feeling that Arteta doesn’t really know how to use them all yet.
What happened around Saka has also had an impact, especially Martin Odegaard’s own struggles with injuries and form. In Bukayo Saka’s starts this season, Odegaard started seven times as the ‘right eight’ and twice was withdrawn before half-time due to injury.
Saka has started ten times with Eze as a right eight and I’m not sure Eze operates best on the right side of the pitch. He is also not nearly as closely involved in the game as Odegaard. Saka himself has started the last two games in that position. I have to say that Saka’s selection in that midfield position against Wolves felt a bit desperate to me.
Moving your ‘franchise’ player fairly arbitrarily from his usual position doesn’t feel like something a team on the cusp of winning the league would do – even though I can acknowledge that the injuries to Odegaard, Merino and Havertz were a crucial part of that decision. It feels like something a struggling team does (and it raises more questions about Eze’s signing).
The Saka-Odegaard-White triumvirate has well and truly fallen apart, with Timber now playing most games at right back. Bukayo’s form is also not immune to the striker situation, with Jesus and Gyokeres playing and appearing intermittently.
Both are vastly different in style and the rotation between them is also consistent. In addition to lacking rhythm and consistency in terms of his own playing time, Saka also lacked the certainty that Odegaard would start and perform every week or that one of Jesus or Havertz would most likely start up front.
We can only hope this pays off in the long run, both in terms of Saka’s continued health and hopefully Arsenal’s consistent rotation in attack will ultimately feel more like a healthy carousel than a desperate attempt to make something vague work. Arsenal have a lot of good strikers, but Saka is really the only one likely to achieve greatness. Greater rhythm in the final months of the season is a necessity to see him – and Arsenal – reach the level they are capable of.
#Bukayo #Saka #Rhythm #dancer