Arsenal: Bukayo Saka running away with the left wing battle

Arsenal dropped late against Barcelona, but we can still glean positives from the defeat, and Bukayo Saka is yet again a positive standout.

Arsenal took a lead into half time against Barcelona for the Joan Gamper trophy but dropped it late due to, you guessed it, defensive mistakes. One providing an own goal and the other an untracked run. In the meantime though, at the other end, we were treated to more cohesive attacking play, and Bukayo Saka in particular continues to showcase what a left winger looks like.

Exclusively left-sided, Saka is winning out on the left hand side compared to his nearest competitor, Gabriel Martinelli. Martinelli played on the right hand side in this one and he looked good, but flashes of inexperience kept popping up, particularly in the defense.

Saka though? No inexperience there.

For me, and you’ve all heard this before, what impresses me most is when a youngster clearly improves over a small course of time. Young players are supposed to get better, but I think, after seeing Matteo Guendouzi improve last year, we (or just I) got a bit spoiled.

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Bukayo Saka is keeping me spoiled. At the start of the preseason, we still saw some raw talent that needed better honing, but we still saw improvement over last year. He wasn’t just an uncorked dribbling machine, he was fitting into the attack, not trying to change the world with every touch.

Against Barcelona, we saw even more continued progression, as he really wasn’t loose with the ball at all. He was composed and looked every bit of a professional. No doubt about it.

But what impressed me the most, and what impressed everyone the most, really, was his delivery from wide. And true, when you add something to nothing, you are going to be happy with the results, but Saka’s delivery was tremendous. Two times he played a ball into the box and both times, it could have conceivably ended in goal. One was inches from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang‘s outstretched leg, the other connected with Martinelli, who put the final ball just wide of the post.

The delivery is there. Which means that the ability to get into positions to deliver the ball is there too. And he’s doing this with first team talent all around him and he’s doing this against Barcelona.

I don’t want to blow this out of proportion, but I’m really excited about the impact that Saka can make this year. His biggest obstacle right now is getting Unai Emery to trust him enough, but honestly, with how well he is playing and how much he is improving, why wouldn’t he be trusted?