Arsenal: Bukayo Saka building a foundation on good ideas

Arsenal’s second squad yet again dazzled, and Bukayo Saka continued to shine as well. For a team struggling for ideas, Saka is a solution.

Bukayo Saka had his run in the Arsenal first team nicked away by the return of Alexandre Lacazette, and while initially he should have been chosen over Nicolas Pepe, Pepe’s two goals against Vitoria really sealed the deal.

That said, Saka hasn’t lost anything in his play. Seeing him out there against Liverpool was like a revelation all over again. The young man’s ability to make something out of nothing or continue on a something and retain that something-ness, which is often more difficult, it’s unmissable.

That’s what Saka has that I continue to find lacking in so many Arsenal players, first team and youngster alike. He always has ideas. And the more exposure he gets, the more ideas he gets, and the more ideas he gets, the firmer the foundation he’s setting for himself.

No matter who Saka is up against, he continues to produce that font of ideas, but it’s more noticeable in midweek fixtures because, honestly, the midweek fixtures have more ideas in general, not just from Saka, but from the whole lot of them.

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The difference between Arsenal’s first-choice squad and their second-choice squad is remarkable. How your best players can perform so badly and your youngsters and second choice can play so much better and at least look like they care enough to fight, is bizarre.

But whatever the case, whether on or off the ball, whether in the Prem or suiting up midweek, Saka is trying things. I used this same argument when I used to advocate for Joel Campbell. Even if he isn’t the purest player, he is constantly trying new things.

Saka is a much better player than Campbell, however, and that pureness may well be within his wheelhouse in the near future. He doesn’t punt it into the 30th row nearly as often as Campbell does.

That’s what we want though. (Not the 30th row bit.) We want someone who is just as likely to score as he is to dribble through a defender. Someone who’s just as likely to dummy and chase as he is to backheel to an overlap. It’s all there for Saka, and he’s figuring out more and more what’s working.

And, in exchange, the level of consistency we can count on from him is on the rise.