It started happening to Mohamed Salah around the end of his first season at Liverpool. Yes: right now, Saka is in that league. There was one nutmeg of Scott McTominay in the first half that was pure disdain, a move that said: “What are you even doing here m8, I wanted Casemiro.” Luke Shaw initially handled him well by standing off, and so like the best players Saka adjusted. He started releasing the ball first time. He started shooting on sight. Shaw has been one of United’s best players this season and Saka broke him, piece by piece.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2023/jan/22/arsenal-strut-past-manchester-united-with-unmistakable-aura-of-champions?CMP=share_btn_tw

Liew has written some brilliant stuff about Arsenal this season.

Wow. Incredible performance.

The 9 I gave him in the ratings thread seems well harsh after seeing all that together.

he's reaching the level where his brilliance is expected. he makes beating 1-2 players seem mundane, he's so good at it. wingers that combine his calibre of dribbling with the ability to pick the right pass are unicorns.

Big call, but I'm not sure I've seen defenders backing off an Arsenal player that desperately since Thierry. Alexis maybe but I don't think so.

    Burnwinter Alexis carried that fear too you're right. He was double tripled team in many games.

    Pepe also had defenders backing off him at the very start of his career for a short period of time before he lost all his swag

        What I love about him is that it's all so simple. It's not flashy tricks and flicks, it's not simply blowing someone away with electric pace, or being physically dominant. It's simply a great touch, good ball control/manipulation, and feel for when to pass, hold or move. But he does it all so well it's spectacular in itself. Watching that highlight reel shows the consistency with which he does the right thing almost every time. And to an extent he can at times be predictable but still unstoppable because his touch and control is so good. It's joyous watching him.

        There's an extra level to unlock in his game as well.

        I mentioned something similar in my past criticism of Odegaard, that even when he had good performances, he passed up quite a few decent shooting opportunities - not anymore. Level unlocked.

        For Saka, it's his right foot. His left is lethal and all, but once he is able to put in crosses on his right foot even semi-consistently, he will become virtually unplayable.

        25 days later

        Needs better protection from the refs. Arteta needs to keep harping on this week in week out until they begin to do a better job keeping him safe. Else he's going to get seriously injured very soon.

          flobaba
          Opposition tactics have been clear every game. Go in and kick the hell out of Saka and Odegaard. That Sesame Street looking muppet Mings almost took Odegaard’s leg off. That’s why Saka retaliated. Would actually like to see Vieira or Trossard in the left 8 now so we spread creativity a bit more. And let opponents have to think a bit about who to kick

            Yup Mings, Moreno and Kamara's thuggish moments stirred Saka in the 2nd half; heartening to see him stand up to it and he really savoured the eventual comeback and victory. Feels like Mings does it every time, and as we're all too familiar over the years, the teams (led by United) have leaned into it against us because they've seen how often they won't get reprimanded for it.

            Interesting post-match words from Arteta, suggesting Saka's game may even invite it and it's up to him to overcome the typical scenario:

            He’s fine - he got kicked quite a lot again, but he’s going to have to deal with that, not every week, but every three days...sometimes in training as well. It’s his game - teams are not stupid and they want to stop him. We need to protect him.

            I was thinking Nelson could start against Leicester this weekend but given the above and what's at stake, he'll probably be first name on the sheet.

            Conclusion: he's too good.

            Hang on, is the argument that Saka is getting targeted and not enough fouls on him are getting called, or/and that when fouls are called, they're not getting as many cards as they should be? That "analysis" only seems to consider fouls on Saka that are called, and then comparing to other players.

              Daz seems those are not mutually exclusive.

              • Daz replied to this.

                  Coombs No I agree, but the premise set up at the start of that video implies that Saka is not actually fouled as much as is being made out, but only bases this on the number of fouls that are actually called on him. I admit I couldn't be arsed watching the rest of it, so maybe it went broader after, but for me that's a problematic basis from which to launch the analysis

                    He basically goes on to say his strength, skill and balance is so good, that he isn’t fouled as much as the likes of Grealish, who will go down given any opportunity. He also looks to effect the play by riding the tackles and exploiting the space he creates.

                    I don’t quite understand the statement though that what defenders are doing to him isn’t all that bad.

                    • Daz replied to this.
                    • Daz likes this.

                      James I don’t quite understand the statement though that what defenders are doing to him isn’t all that bad.

                      Yeah I agree this is the key point because it focuses on the tactics that teams and players are using to try and limit his influence. And from this we then have the flow on problems of a) not enough of these actions being recognised and called as fouls by the officials, and b) not enough of the fouls that are called being given as yellow cards