Arsenal News: Saka Under Fire as Arteta Defends Team Ahead of Sunderland Clash
Arsenal head to Sunderland on Saturday night with momentum, noise and a few awkward questions swirling around them.
Three wins from three in the Premier League, including that statement victory over Chelsea. A Champions League campaign opened with a win, sealed by Martin Odegaard despite a glut of missed chances. The football is purring. The mood around the club? Not quite as straightforward.
Because while Mikel Arteta’s side chase a fourth straight league win, the fallout from the transfer window and a pointed critique of Bukayo Saka have dragged the conversation away from the pitch.
Saka under the microscope
Bukayo Saka is usually the golden child of the Emirates. This week, he’s been painted very differently.
Former Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant has branded Saka overrated, arguing that the England international’s reputation as a world-class winger is not backed up by his numbers.
Speaking to GOAL, Pennant said: “If you start touting players as world-class, one of the best wingers in the world or the best winger in the Premier League, then you've got to be in those numbers. I would say it's non-negotiable.
“If you look at Mohamed Salah, he did it for nine years straight. In the bracket of goal contributions, it's plus 20.
“I think he [Saka] does get away with a bit of murder at times, the numbers and his stats. He can put in some absolutely stellar performances but if you look deep and you start digging deep and you look at his stats, compared to top wingers around the globe and who played in the Premier League as well, they fall quite short.”
It is a harsh reading of a player many regard as Arsenal’s talisman. Yet it lands at a moment when expectations around Saka are sky-high and every touch, every goal, every dry spell is weighed against the output of the game’s elite wide forwards.
Arsenal will need his response to come on the pitch, starting at Sunderland.
Arteta the ‘bad cop’
While Saka’s numbers are being dissected, Arteta has been forced to defend his own handling of departures.
Gabriel Jesus, who left for Barcelona at the end of the window, sparked a storm this week when he told SportyTV that “out of nowhere they put me to train apart from the group” and that “nobody told me nothing.”
Those comments painted a cold picture of his exit. Arteta pushed back.
“Very surprised [to hear], to be fair, especially because with Gabi [Jesus],” the Arsenal manager said. “I had an individual talk in the dressing room. I don't know what words were said, [but] it's fine. The words that we used were all about gratitude.
“I don't know, it's OK. Sometimes I understand that when you have to deliver bad news, or news that people don't expect, somebody has to be the bad cop. If I have to be, I have to be and I understand.”
Arteta pointed to Leandro Trossard’s behaviour as a counterweight. Sold to Besiktas in July, Trossard was back in the stands to watch the win over Chelsea, a small but telling snapshot of how some former players still feel connected to the club.
The Arsenal boss also fielded questions about Ian Wright’s recent unease over what he perceived to be a lack of dialogue with Gabriel Martinelli before the Brazilian’s move to Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League earlier this month. Arteta did not fan the flames, choosing instead to stress the gratitude shown to those leaving and his acceptance of the “bad cop” role when tough decisions are made.
Sunderland, Xhaka and a different kind of test
All of that noise travels with Arsenal to the North East, where Granit Xhaka’s Sunderland await. The former Gunners midfielder has taken four points from his first four games in charge and will relish the chance to bloody the nose of his old club.
For Arsenal, the assignment is clear. Protect the perfect league record. Keep the early-season authority intact. Turn a strong start into something more ominous.
With Saka under scrutiny, ex-players talking and Arteta willingly cast as the villain when needed, the football now has to do the talking.
