3. Goals and assists
Last season Saka scored 14 and assisted 11 for Arsenal in the Premier League, including G/A against United, City, Liverpool and Chelsea.
And, while those goals and assists were impressive, the timing of them was even more impressive with many coming as equalisers or to give Arsenal the lead in games.
More impressively, his numbers for England follow a similar trend, as he scored three goals and notched an assist in four games at the World Cup; the biggest stage.
With these numbers, Saka has become a star player for club and country, and as Joe Cole said after Monday’s 7-0 thumping of North Macedonia game, he is “the face of English football’s future”, but also the present, which is why he has won MOTM in 10 of his 28 caps.
At this moment in time, it is hard to find someone better than him on the right wing.
#Arsenal</a>, bossed it at the World Cup and still has enough in the tank to rock up for England in mid June and bang in a hat trick in style. And, he’s here for another four years. <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#AFC</a> <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://t.co/lPRn3orXjX">pic.twitter.com/lPRn3orXjX
<p>— Adam Keys (@adamkeys_) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://twitter.com/adamkeys_/status/1670893611863425024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>June 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h2><strong>1. Availability</strong></h2>
<p>The best players are always available. You can’t influence a game from the bench or the treatment table, and people are starting to wake up to that fact.</p>
<p>All the biggest names in the game have, and continue to play, 50+ club games plus internationals each season and Saka is showing that he is very much in that category after playing <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bukayo-saka/leistungsdaten/spieler/433177">3,744 minutes for <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/01/3-key-takeaways-arsenal-2022-23-season/">the Gunners</a> last season.</p>
<p>At Arsenal, his availability is crucial. He is a leader in the team, and his constant availability has enabled him to grow and progress at a pace that payers his age rarely do, and he is now one of the first names on the team sheet for club and county.</p>
<p>Whilst people have criticised his end-of-season <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/22/3-reasons-saka-form/">form, it’s important to remember that it was only his G/A that dropped off, not his overall performances. He was still giving Arsenal everything on and off the ball, but it was the end product that dipped.</p>
<p><em>Continued to next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #2 Technical security </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-135116" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1707,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1499845238-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1499845238-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1499845238-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1499845238-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1499845238-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"></p>
<h2><strong>2. Technical security</strong></h2>
<p>Jack Grealish has been praised all season for the technical security he provides City, meaning his team can control games and suffocate teams in the final third.</p>
<p>This security and control is the reason given for overlooking Grealish’s less-than-impressive goals and assists numbers, but the truth is Saka gives Arsenal and England exactly the same.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Bukayo Saka gives you all the security on the ball that Jack Grealish gives City, which allows them to control games. The difference is, he also leads <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Arsenal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#Arsenal</a> and England with goals and assists. He truly is a unique talent. <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/afc?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#afc</a> <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://t.co/i7RdQ9uY8h">pic.twitter.com/i7RdQ9uY8h
<p>— Adam Keys (@adamkeys_) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://twitter.com/adamkeys_/status/1671411791484559362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>June 21, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>At Arsenal, Saka receives the ball deep and is involved in every area of the build-up down the right-hand side, with his intelligence allowing the team to consistently adapt to retain possession and avoid him being kicked off the park.</p>
<p>With this, we’ve seen Saka make that run inside his full-back to receive from Ben White, before popping it to Martin Odegaard and working his way into the box. With England, he’s playing as a stretcher; a completely different role. And, guess what? He’s still thriving.</p>
<p><em>Continued to next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #3 Goals and assists </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-135115" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1706,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1499822527-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1706" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1499822527-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1499822527-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1499822527-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1499822527-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"></p>
<h2><strong>3. Goals and assists</strong></h2>
<p>Last season Saka scored 14 and assisted 11 for Arsenal in the Premier League, including G/A against United, City, Liverpool and Chelsea.</p>
<p>And, while those goals and assists were impressive, the timing of them was even more impressive with many coming as equalisers or to give Arsenal the lead in games.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">A first of many senior hattricks for Bukayo Saka 🤩 <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://t.co/ydhwW5rzVy">pic.twitter.com/ydhwW5rzVy
<p>— Arsenal FC News (@ArsenalFC_fl) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://twitter.com/ArsenalFC_fl/status/1671428741728280576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>June 21, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/21/3-reasons-bukayo-saka-best-rw-world/3/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>More impressively, his numbers for England follow a similar trend, as he scored three goals and notched an assist in four games at the World Cup; the biggest stage.</p>
<p>With these numbers, Saka has become a star player for club and country, and as Joe Cole said after Monday’s 7-0 thumping of North Macedonia game, he is “the face of English football’s future”, but also the present, which is why he has won MOTM in 10 of his 28 caps.</p>
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<p>At this moment in time, it is hard to find someone better than him on the right wing.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
