Thomas Tuchel said the quiet Bukayo Saka truth out loud

Bukayo Saka recently left international duty to return to Arsenal. While this would have been met with a mixture of cynics and conspiracy theorists, Thomas Tuchel has reassured the nation of England that Bukayo Saka was desperate to play. He just wasn't willing to take the risk.

In his own words, Thomas Tuchel said: “Just to get the narrative straight: they desperately wanted to play. They wanted desperately to be involved. It made just no sense to take this risk. If it had been maybe the last game of the season, we would have kept them and tried everything. But in this moment of the season, it did not make sense. The risk for making it worse was just way too big."

We we wrong about Thomas Tuchel

Before the international break, we published an article theorising that Thomas Tuchel doesn't have his players' best interest at heart by putting them through more workload before the season reaches boiling point. We can very proudly hold our hands in the air and say we were wrong.

Tuchel not only cared about his players enough to allow them more rest time for the season's pivotal moment, but he went one step beyond by protecting them in the media, too.

Tuchel did not need to come out, unprovoked, and say that Arsenal's players (among others who left camp early) were desperate to play for England. He has probably seen how hostile the English media can be, and how receptive to it fans can be, so he made the most important thing crystal clear: Players left camp through no reason other than precaution.

This international break has turned out splendidly for Arsenal

Heading into the international break, Arsenal fans would have been concerned that players would get injured unnecessarily. Their two most important players, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, were protected by the England medical team, and it's good news involving Noni Madueke, too.

Madueke is Saka's closest competition for a spot in the Arsenal team. He was seen leaving the recent England vs Uruguay game with a brace, but it was revealed over the last hour that Madueke's injury is not as serious as first thought.

If Arsenal continue to come out of the international break relatively unscathed (here's to hoping), then Mikel Arteta can put all of his eggs in the basket of the title race. Oh, and the Champions League. OH, and the FA Cup.

Perhaps being an Arsenal fan right now is not as misery-fuelled as social media would have you believe over the last week.