Bukayo Saka has claimed that his Arsenal side are going to ‘achieve big things’ after their victory over Watford.
The Gunners had to be in top form this afternoon to deny a spirited performance from the Hornets at Vicarage Road, winning by a 3-2 scoreline.
Saka was especially on form today, setting up Martin Odegaard to open the scoring inside five minutes before scoring a fine effort to put us back ahead before the break.
The youngster was then asked if his side had set out to play with such a high press, which resulted in him both winning the ball back as well as finishing off the effort for his goal.
“That’s what we work on every day, the high press,” Saka told Arsenal Media. “As soon as I won it, I found Laca and he knows my movement and where I am.
“It’s so fun to play with him. He put that ball in the perfect spot for me and it was just down to me to finish. I finished well.
“I feel much more confident [in front of goal] – but I still have a long way to go in terms of where I want to be in front of goal. Just to keep trying, that’s the only way I can improve. I’ll miss some and I’ll score some and I’ll just learn from them.
“I do set myself targets but at the same time, I just want to win each game. If I don’t score but we win, it’s better for the team. That’s the best way to think about it and at the end of the season, we’ll achieve big things like this.”
It’s certainly interesting for the youngster to praise Lacazette, who despite captaining our side at present and playing a key role, has a very uncertain future at present.
Laca is key to our football at present, and central to a lot of our goals whether he is the one finding the net or not, but with his contract currently set to expire this summer, he remains on course to leave on a free transfer.
Would Arsenal have to guarantee Alex a first-team role to keep him beyond the upcoming window?
Patrick
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Mikel Arteta’s FULL press conference after Watford win –
That’s the spirit !!!
Laca is getting(rightly so) many posts praising his workrate and good attitude. I concur with those.
BUT to be perfectly honest, he is also slowing down noticeably, is not scoring and as captain and the most experienced of our players, along with XHAKA, he is not earning his place, in my book.
I love real tryers and those who know my constant calling out of the idle players(Walcott, Ozil, Myki and Auba, all esp) we have had over many years past, will know how MUCH I APPRECIATE WORKRATE.
But by itself – and I see little else of use, except workrate, in todays Laca -it is plainly not enough to justify keeping him after this season. That needs to be said and recognised.
why so negative after such an important victory? I certainly don’t want to offend, but are you sure you’re an Arsenal supporter? once again, I apologize if my presumptions are unfounded, but you seem to have a lot of very negative comments to make about several of our players
Little of use? 7 assists in last 9 PL games.
I don’t disagree – laca has slowed significantly over the past season or 2. I love how his work rate, aggression and experience is making him effective (he does also have some quality in his link up play which is often ignored) but he’s not the ideal first choice striker.
I would say he’s not a bad second choice striker, though, as he does find a way. We definitely need a new CF, but i would be happy to keep laca in the squad if we could agree good terms for the club (1 or 2 year contract) – he’s a safety net of sorts as we know he works with this group of players and I feel his workrate and aggressive playing style is a great influence on the younger players.
The other thing about laca’s attitude is the way he copes with adversity – he was expected to be a goalscorer when he signed, and people of course complain that he hasn’t done enough in that regard, but the fact he continues to give 100% over and over, even when he’s been dropped in the past, even in favour of far less accomplished players like Nketiah (thinking of when he was playing his first few games in the league) it’s truly admirable. He’s able to put his ego aside – that has been a breath of fresh air for me. 99% of top level pros would have thrown their toys out the pram, but he just keeps coming back.
Have to say, Pepe has my respect for the same reason.
Yes its plainly obvious that Lacca is pivotal to the way we are playing. I said a while ago for us to do well Lacca has to keep his effort and his form up to allow the rest of the team to be able to play in the space he creates. His workrate is phenomenal and brings in so many players. If he keeps it up we will keep it up. He will be hard to replace. Some of the names i have seen, cant lace his boots in this form. A real player player and people who understand football, understand his strengths he brings.
A striker in my understanding, is a person who is chiefly responsible for scoring goals and so far so good, Lacazette fits that role. Every goal we’ve managed to score this season, so far, has been through him. No one else. Right nw, we ain’t struggling to create chances and when we are, clinicality takes the mantle. Just as we saw in the first half of the match, yesterday, our first two shots were on target. But what got me angered, was our defensiveness, we were as porous as anything. There is still a lot of work to do in that area, BenWhite especially. We looked jaded yesterday and notable was Xhaka, who looked completely exhausted. But Ødegaard and Saka, were superb yesterday, Lacazette as well. Right now, Tierney is struggling big time and we owe him our supports, let gather as much as we can. I love Marty, even more than any other Arsenal player but he is also not performing as much as I am expecting of him, and that alone is in his decision making in the box. Giving up on Pepe😩…….., No more pls!
He is the one not earning the goal allowance not you jon fox so why complain about his goal drought when he has done all he can to help us secure a win which should matter most to all arsenal owners,players,coaches,staff and fans.deserves a new contract for me two years at least.
If you know about football and have played the game, you will know how valuable players playing like Lacca does, is. His lack of goals becomes insignificant if those around him are benefiting and they are. I believe he has more involvement in our goals this season than any other player. If those around him dont make use of what Lacca brings, then it becomes a problem. At this moment in time, he isn’t a problem but a massive advantage.
Failing to condemn Firmino but nailing Lacazette passionately, goes to show how much haters we’ve got🤷….. I believe their pl stats are quite similar, infact, Firmino’s league appearance outnumbers Lacazette’s.
Fox must be smoking grass! If he refuses to be happy about our current success that’s upto him.
Lacazette is such an important player in that Arsenal team and we will surely miss him, if he doesn’t extend his stay… 7assists in 9games! Are you kidding me??😲 The Marty, Saka & co. relish playing along side him, even, the gaffer attested to the fact that he makes others around him look good. I get upset when I hear those stupid analysts talking jagons of Lacazette, just to enjoy some bit of awareness. If we sign another striker without extending Laca’s contract, we risk having another season of heartbreak. Because, how sure are we that the next striker will do well??? Ofcourse, we won’t want history repeating itself regarding contract extension. But the fact that it didn’t work with AUBA and MESUT, shouldn’t prevent us from granting Laca an extension. 2yrs atleast. Me, I don’t have any problem with Laca, as long as, we are winning.
Jargon***
The team seems to be built around Lacazette, he’s the link between midfield and attack, he’s the reason the midfield is stronger, as he drags 2 defenders along, our wingers get more opportunities,
IMO, I think he deserves an extension, 1 year should be fine and if he does well, he gets another year’s extension.