Theo Walcott scored 21 and assisted 14 in the 2012/13 season, doesn’t mean much in the long run; and before it starts I’m not comparing the two, I’m simply highlighting that stats aren’t exactly the measure of “quality.”TeeCee wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2024 2:01 pmI think we can be a bit hard on Saka. The guy is amazing and it's easy to lose our shit when he has an off day. He seems to be brilliant or total pants, there's not an 'ok' level to him really. I was certainly shouting for him to be subbed on the hour yesterday, he had an awful game......but let's not forget, he's 22 years old, he's flogged to death because we don't have much option to replace him and in what seems to have been a mediocre season for him......he has 16 goals and 9 assists. That's fucking excellent by any midfielders standards. We should cut him a bit of slack now and then.
Saka is a quite an inconsistent player. He goes missing more often than not. He SEEMS quite easy to mark out of a game when the defence cottons onto him real quick, and it’s evident that if the team is having a bad game then he does too. That has been evident throughout this season AND last, at least. Let’s be honest, there has never been a game in which he, alone, has grabbed by the scruff of the neck and pulled us to a draw or victory; and I’m talking about performance as well as goals.
I fully agree that he’s been overplayed. Having Reiss Nelson as back up RW is hardly suitable substitute or competition for Saka. We also must accept that Arteta persisting with him each game, especially in games he’s been pony, has been both a hindrance to him AND the team as a whole. Yesterday is yet another example of how poor Saka has been and how Arteta chose to keep him on, only forced to take him off due to apparently injury. Arteta does it time and again, regardless of Saka’s form. It doesn’t help Saka and it doesn’t help Arsenal.
I’ll be honest, I’m quite far from a Saka fan. I think he’s very overrated and often ineffectual / that’s both in sort to him AND Arteta. I’d be happy to give him a fair shake of the stick if he had a suitable deputy/competition for the RW spot; but right now, I fee overhyping and overdepending on a player that is largely inconstant is detrimental to his development and to the team.