As soon as it began, Arsenal’s 2023–24 FA Cup run came to an end as Liverpool defeated them 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. It would have been a different story if the Gunners had buried their chances. All Liverpool did was capitalize on their few goal-scoring chances to defeat Arsenal. Luis Diaz and Jakub Kiwior (with an own goal) scored for the Reds.
The majority of the blame was appropriately placed on Arsenal’s strikers for yet again missing every chance that came their way.
Some Arsenal fans are concerned about Bukayo Saka. The Arsenal No. 7 had many excellent scoring chances to put Arsenal ahead in this game, but he blew them all. The Englishman has now squandered four good chances in his previous three appearances, which is unlike him.
Saka, aside from missing chances, now appears nearly predictable; he rarely produces good dribbles like he used to in matches. Teams are also keen to come up with game plans to stop him; most times, more than one player is marking him.
Arsenal should have signed someone to deputize the 22-year-old last summer, because weariness could be the reason he isn’t doing well right now. Between now and last season, he has played a huge percentage of Arsenal’s games without having enough rest.
It’s clear that Bukayo Saka is already tired, which would not have been the case if a reliable right winger had been hired. I risk being pilloried for recommending this, but are you of the opinion that Mikel Arteta should periodically rest Saka and consider deploying Kai Havertz or Gabriel Jesus on the right wing at times?
Darren N
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
Couldn’t agree with you more.
Saka was jaded towards the end of last year. That fatigue seems to have set in even earlier this season.
Same to a large extent with Martinelli.
The problem is that we don’t have good enough squad players to rotate. Except for Tomi and Partey and maybe Trossard and injured Timber, the rest are a huge drop in quality compared to the starting 11.
I disagree.
Unless he is unfit or injured he should play regularly. There will be relatively few games in the next few weeks so there will be plenty of time to rest between games.
He’s 22 not 35.
If im correct he has played 99 out of the last 100 games for Arsenal( I think PL games) and that’s a hell of a lot of football for anyone , especially as its him we always pass the ball too and very rarely subbed out, I would gamble and say he has probably played the most games out of any player around his age in the prem ?
You want to rest him next week, when he’s hopelessly fatigued now? What sense does that make? He knows he’s not contributing the way he wants. He’s going to start getting desperate and wreckless in an attempt to compensate for poor performances. That could cause him harm(injuries) or suspension.
Why do you want to push him so hard? What’s so hard to understand about resting a tired mind and body?
He needs a rest it’s clear and basically bloody obvious. Perhaps this break between now and when we play Palace will help him, but I don’t think he will play against Palace. Play Nketiah up front and Jesus on the right.
Perhaps Jesus as Deputy to Saka. But never Harvertz. This man can’t take on a defender, can’t turn, can’t dribble, can’t run, can’t shoot… Slow and lacking confidence …
I dont think he is jaded, just boxed in and given too much to do. Nobody with the exception of Odergaard makes space for him.
Except for Martinelli, i cant see anyone as good as Saka.
To you it seems, he’s good even when he’s bad. He has been horrible the last two matches. Make an attempt to be objective if you love the team.
@Reggie: Saka is not a machine, or superhuman. Can you just watch how other teams are managing their players and stop encouraging the overuse and abuse of players. The boy is completely drained and Arteta thinks he can go on and on because he’s young? That’s just so ignorant of human physiology and mental health.
DER!!! I quoted facts. He has 9 goals and 10 assists in his last 25 games. And thats when people are making statements like he is and has been poor.
And who in the squad is better?
Plus Reggie. Saka gets sh#t kicked out of him every match, with “cyclical” fouling.
Rest Saka, play than Martinelli – Trossard – Jesus/Nelson
I think you have a point, he does look a bit jaded. One of the presenters after the Cup match said that Saka had played in 98 of the last 99 matches. I believe I’ve got that right. At that rate you can expect burnout at some stage of the season.
Arsenal should recall Marquinhos or promote Cozier-Duberry to compete with Saka
I think they wanted to make Vieira happy by making him our second-choice inverted-RW
Are you saying, it’s all down to Arteta. Highly unlikely. Often he’s scored goals on his own initiative and even played better for England than he has for Arsenal. A year or so ago I was writing that Saka needs to be handled carefully. We are now seeing the results of what can happen to a player if he is given little support from his full back, fellow forwards and a manager lacking tactical nous.
I believe Saka could thrive again if he plays with a physically-dominant CF like Vlahovic
No need for an overlapping RB to make Saka more dangerous, as Man City’s and Liverpool’s RWs have been showing
You can’t compete if you aren’t given the opportunity!
Cozier Duberry is a stunning player, but he’ll leave Arsenal soon due to lack of opportunity.
I read he is the 5th most valuable player in the world. Leave it to the specialist in devaluing players to make him worth less than half of that.
And who was it that made him valuable in the first place? The lack of intelligence is phenomenal!
Unai Emery and the player himself dumbo.
Come now, we must give the great one his due, lol.
Sorry, gotanidea, my previous post was meant as a reply to Jen.
I believe that Saka is carrying an injury (achilles?) and has been for several weeks if not months. I too believe he needs to be rested and if he is carrying an injury, given time off for that injury to heal.
Hes got two weeks off, with a nice break in Dubai!!!!!!
I love Reiss so much as a player. A pity Arteta never gives him a chance. He should just leave for another team at this point
People keep saying buy back up for Saka when we have Trossard, Nelson, GJ that can play RW. Man City are playing Oscar Bobb and we can’t field any of the above
You hardly see man City play same 11 consecutively to ensure players are fresh. But MA only changed his’ either through suspension or injury (with the exception of Tomiyasu). MA needs to learn the art of rotation if he wants to win anything