LONDON — It was a tactical gambit only brought about by an injury in the warm-up. It was one that Mikel Arteta had had more than six years to play about with, something he had only done fleetingly. And it was the first look that he moved on from with a halftime substitution.
Basically, Bukayo Saka’s dalliance with central midfield in this 4-0 shellacking of Wigan Athletic is probably just going to be one of those curios that is left to gather dust in the vault. Mikel Arteta’s electric Nebraska, if you will. And maybe the boss has good reason not to indulge the wishes of his fanbase. Simplicity is so often the greatest conduit towards creativity. If your songs sound best with guitar and harmonica, play them that way. If you have one of the best right wingers on the planet, play him there.
Then again, maybe there’s something in this that merits a second hearing? After all, Arteta said as much after the game.
“That’s something that’s a possibility, and I wanted to try it, and we might use it in the future. We still have so many games, competitions and different scenarios to play in this season, and that’s a possibility that we have,” Arteta said.
When Riccardo Calafiori limped out with injury, there could have been a like-for-like swap with Piero Hincapie. Myles Lewis-Skelly ultimately swapped out of his midfield berth for left back, but it could have been Martin Zubimendi or Declan Rice who brought experience to the engine room. Given that Martin Odegaard joined Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino on the sidelines, someone is going to have to step into midfield. Why not a player who seemed to offer his side some of what they have missing, albeit against very limited opposition?
Arsenal’s attack has occasionally drifted out of tune this season, very proficient individual players not always synchronizing as they might. Saka is not excluded from that assessment given he has seven goals and five assists in 33 games across all competitions, a tally he failed to add to on Sunday, even as he forced an own goal for the Gunners’ third.
A fair chunk of that underperformance can be credited to Saka being behind his expected goals and assists, not a fact you would necessarily expect to be quite so true a few months from now. Then again Saka is not quite delivering the same xG and shot output he had at the peak of his threat two years ago. Anything that might get their best attacker into the most dangerous positions more frequently is surely worth an extended play.
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Arsenal have tried this before, Saka getting a sniff at central midfield in the drudgery of lockdown ball, late in the 2019-20 season and early in the weeks that follow. He is a different player now, however, and Arsenal are a different team.
You could see Saka bringing back some of the qualities that this team has occasionally lacked in its worst attacking moments. His movement for the third immediately had one harking back to 2022-23 and Granit Xhaka: byline crasher. With the flying Noni Madueke drawing the attention of his defense, there was a seam for the central midfielder to attack. A first time cross before the ball went out of play should have been turned in by Gabriel Jesus, who instead miscued the ball into the path of the unfortunate Jack Hunt.first-time
That the cross came off his weaker foot speaks to the great quality he could deliver centrally, his two-footedness making him into even more of a double threat than he is off the right flank. With a bit more space to operate on the outside, Saka could blow by his opponents on the outside to get to a crossing spot or manufacture a shooting chance, too. As is apparent in the progressive flow graphic below, an awful lot of Arsenal’s forward momentum came in the inside right channel Saka occupied for the first 45 minutes, after which Viktor Gyokeres took his place.
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“He’s more central, he’s closer to the goal,” said Arteta. “It’s a bit more difficult for the opponent to get his reference constantly. He can interchange position with the wide player as well, and he’s so good at picking those spaces, and when he’s there, he can really hurt you with the ball.”
On a broader level, Arsenal found themselves with a midfield that was just that bit more intent on stretching play beyond the opposition defense. One of the few critiques you could throw at the Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard triumvirate is that all three are so adept with the ball at their feet that they tend to gravitate towards it. Saka was more intent on attacking space. With Gabriel Jesus dropping off as Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli drove on, there were options for the deep passers. The outstanding Eberechi Eze exploited those with aplomb.
“I was a bit surprised with the level of cohesion and connections very early in the match,” said a candid Arteta. “When you make that many changes, that can be a part of the game that can be lacking, but certainly it wasn’t, and we scored some very, very good goals.”
All of this comes with the most almighty of caveats. Sunday’s opposition were, ermmm, not very good. When Madueke cooly rolled in the opener, the travelling Wigan support serenaded their hosts with a chant of “How shit must you be, it’s only 1-0.” Three goals later they struck up a similar tune. When they’ve seen give up six to Peterborough United last week, there was little to really fear from the Emirates Stadium. Arteta could have played Saka at center back and given Tommy Setford his home debut at the tip of the attack. Arsenal were still going to win.
As such Saka’s shift infield might be a one and done, a short sharp burst rather than a change of direction. But when Arsenal find the rhythm that so impressed their manager from the off today, you do want to hear a little bit more.
