Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta heaped praise on Bukayo Saka and even dared to compare the Gunners star to Lionel Messi after his impressive display in the 2-0 win over Wolves.
The 23-year-old produced a fine cross to set up Kai Havertz’s opener and then the German repaid the favour in the second half. But Saka did the hard work, twisting and turning Rayan Ait-Nouri into knots before lashing his effort beyond Jose Sa.
The England international took the man of the match award for his performance, which came only 37 days after playing in the Euro 2024 final.
And Arteta pointed out the similarities between Saka’s unstoppable dribbling and the Argentinian maestro Messi after his solo goal clinched the win at the Emirates Stadium.
“With good players it’s like that. With Messi, I know he’s going to come in [from the right] and do that, but you can’t stop him,” Arteta said after the game.
Saka’s close dribbling style often causes a headache for defenders, because while he is heavily weighted on his left foot, the London Colney graduate’s quick turn of pace means he can fake towards his weaker foot too.
It is fair to say that while Saka is arguably in the form of his life at present, the England winger still has some way to go to match Messi.
His 16-goal return in the Premier League was the best of his short career, but Messi managed to score 20 goals or more in 15 consecutive seasons with Barcelona.
Despite coming away with all three points and a clean sheet, Arteta was not overly impressed with how it took his side to find the second goal to kill the game.
When asked for his assessment on the game and if he was pleased, Arteta said: “Especially with the beginning of the match, in the first half we were really good, really intense. We generated a lot [of chances].
“We probably should have scored two or three. In the second half, we were sloppy and then the game was a bit more open. Bukayo has an unbelievable action to score the 2-0 [goal].”
Arteta did praise players such as Saka, Declan Raya and Declan Rice for returning to action so quickly after the Euro 2024 final, adding: “I’m not surprised. That was their mentality straight away after the last game.
“They wanted to come back and be here early. If players are doing that it will raise the level.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk