‘Incredible’ Bukayo Saka makes the difference for Arsenal: Mikel Arteta
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Bukayo Saka scores his and Arsenal's second goal in the 3-0 Champions League win over Monaco.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – Mikel Arteta praised Bukayo Saka’s “incredible talent” after the Arsenal forward’s double inspired a 3-0 win over Monaco on Dec 11 that moved his side closer to the Champions League last 16.
The 23-year-old struck late in each half at the Emirates Stadium, before Kai Havertz wrapped up the Gunners’ fourth win in six games in the revamped league phase of Europe’s elite club competition.
Arsenal sit third in the table behind Liverpool and Barcelona with two games remaining, as they chase automatic qualification for the last 16 via a top-eight finish. With matches at home to Dinamo Zagreb and at Girona to come in January, that should be a simple task.
But if Arteta’s team are to go all the way and win the Champions League for the first time, they will need England star Saka to maintain his superb form.
He has five goals in his last six games in all competitions and nine for the season, as well as a hatful of assists.
The Arsenal boss knows better than anyone just how much Saka has developed since he took charge in 2019.
“He looks really mature. What he has already done in the game at his age is incredible. Very humble, a great guy to have around and an incredible talent,” the Spaniard said.
“He’s a special person. In his role his leadership is increasing. With the young kids he is amazing, with the seniors he is amazing. He is loved by everybody and he makes the difference on the pitch.”
Saka is a quiet, unassuming personality on and off the pitch so there is little chance of him blowing his own trumpet.
But pundits are starting to rank the winger as one of the world’s best forwards and Arteta agrees that he is on the right trajectory to be rated alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Vinicius Jr.
“That is what he wants to do. That is the ambition he has and the quality he has. He is preparing himself every day so I’m not surprised,” he added.
“You have to be able to do that consistently throughout many years to prove yourself in that position.
“What he has done at that age, you can put him in those brackets. What he done in his six years in professional football is exceptional and that’s it. He wasn’t able to do that at 18 or 19. A year or two ago, he developed in the right way... Now he has the habit to play every three days and he is doing that at the highest level.”
After a damaging 1-1 draw against Fulham in the Premier League last weekend, Arsenal’s fifth win in their last six games in all competitions was a welcome tonic but Arteta also insisted that they still were not at their best against Monaco.
They wasted a series of chances in the first half and were fortunate that Monaco missed opportunities to equalise before Saka’s killer second goal.
“We should have scored four or five in the first half but it wasn’t the case,” Arteta said.
“In the Champions League you will have difficult moments and we suffered but then with the second goal the game was in control. We keep learning. Obviously we need much more and I’m sure we will in the near future.”
Myles Lewis-Skelly came in at left-back for just his second Arsenal start, with his other coming in the League Cup against third-tier Bolton.
The youngest player to start a Champions League match for the north Londoners since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2011, the 18-year-old rose to the occasion with a composed display. AFP
