Playing Saka Centrally Is A Tactic I Might Try Again – Arteta

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has come out to speak about deploying Bukayo Saka in a central role against Wigan in the fourth round of the FA Cup. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, he made his decision to swap Saka from his usual role out wide because it is something that he had wanted to try during football matches.

The Spaniard added that the positional switch might be a tactic he’ll turn to more regularly in the coming games.

His words, “Very happy with the results and especially the performance, the way we started the game.

You really want to show how much you want it when you play against this kind of opposition in the cup, and we certainly had that attitude, and then I was a bit surprised with the level of cohesion and connections very early in the match, because when you make that many changes, that can be a part of the game – that can be lacking. But it certainly wasn’t [for us] and we scored some very, very good goals. I’m very pleased with that.

That’s something that’s a possibility and I wanted to try it, and we might use it in the future. There are still so many games, competitions and different scenarios to play in this season, and that’s a possibility that we have.

Well, he’s more central, he’s closer to the goal. It’s a bit more difficult for the opponent to get his reference constantly. He can interchange positions with a wide player as well, and he’s so good at picking those spaces. When he’s there, he can really hurt you with the ball.

Yes, some superb balls and his intentions, I think the risk that he took in the final third, the amount of shots that he tried to take as well, I think that’s really positive. That’s what we want from him.

That’s what those players need, those moments and especially when we talk about the creative players, they need to feel that they are producing those moments and I’m very happy with that, very happy with Gabi as well, the run that he made, the timing of that and then the finish in action, really, really positive.

So it’s good for the mood, for the confidence, it’s a really good thing.”

WOW.

Arsenal Football Club is an English professional football club based in Holloway, North London. Arsenal compete in the Premier League, the top flight of English football.

The club has won 13 league titles (including one unbeaten title), a record 14 FA Cups, two League Cups, 17 FA Community Shields, the Football League Centenary Trophy, one European Cup Winners’ Cup and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. In terms of trophies won, it is the third-most successful club in English football.

After conducting an overhaul in the club’s operating model to coincide with Wenger’s departure, Spaniard Unai Emery was named as the club’s new head coach on 23 May 2018. He became the club’s first ever ‘head coach’ and second manager from outside the United Kingdom.

In Emery’s first season, Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League and as runner-up in the Europa League. On 29 November 2019, Emery was dismissed as manager and former player and assistant first team coach Freddie Ljungberg was appointed as interim head coach. On 20 December 2019, Arsenal appointed former club captain Mikel Arteta as the new head coach. Arsenal finished the league season in eighth, their lowest finish since 1994–95, but beat Chelsea 2–1 to earn a record-extending 14th FA Cup win. After the season. Arteta’s title was changed from head coach to manager.