How Starboy Saka evolved to become the Real Deal for Arsenal
Bukayo Saka is having the season of his career.
The 21-year-old walloped Arsenal level against Aston Villa at the weekend to take his goals tally to nine in the Premier League this term. Saka is also on eight assists meaning he’s just one goal involvement shy of equalling the career-high 18 he managed last season.
He was always going to better it at some stage during his career; he is too talented not to.
However, what is remarkable about this is the speed at which he’s hit these numbers. Last season he racked up 2,996 minutes in the Premier League, giving him a goal involvement every 166.4 minutes. This season he’s registered 1,989 minutes of action, and he’s involved in a goal every 117 minutes.
Saka is on course to better his return of 11 goals from last season and has already eclipsed his assists record (seven). In fact, he will likely finish the 2022/23 campaign with a fairly exclusive, quadruple - setting a personal best for goals, assists, goal involvements, and being one of a select few to finish with a double-double - double digits for goals and assists.
The England international will have also played a significant part in Arsenal winning the title if they manage to hold onto their lead at the summit. He has chipped in with goals against Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City. During their first period of patchy form this season, Saka was one of the main constants. He assisted in the draw with Brentford before scoring in the defeat to Manchester City. Saka then levelled it up at Villa Park to make it three-goal involvements in his last three outings.
The young forward isn’t just scoring goals, he’s doing it against big teams and in key moments. That alone showcases his mentality.
Every top player has that one season. The season they jump from a player with the potential to be the real deal, to simply being the Real Deal. Last season blurred it a little for Saka due to his 11 Premier League goals. It skewed perception a touch. But this season he’s built on that campaign, and that is the sign he’s made the step up.
His performances are much more consistent too. For example, this season his WhoScored rating is a career-high 7.45. Last year, despite his many goals and assists, his WhoScored rating was just 7.06. That alone gives insight into the new-found level of consistency.
Saka has made subtle tweaks to his game over the past year. For example, he’s had more shots inside the six-yard box this season than he managed in all of last season. He is also taking a higher percentage of efforts from inside the penalty area (77% up from 74%). This may not seem like that much of a jump, but more shots from higher-value areas can only be seen as a positive for an attacker. It will be interesting to see what this figure is at next season.
Year-upon-year improvements can transform the output of a player in the long run and subtle changes can have a big impact.
Arsenal don’t yet have a 20-goal wide player on their hands, but Saka is on the brink of taking that next step and becoming that goal threat. If he’s able to scale his Non-Penalty Expected Goals average a little higher then he’s going to be in the same sphere as Raheem Sterling at Manchester City and Sadio Mane at Liverpool.
The scary thing for rivals is the fact he’s still years away from his prime, and he is only going to get better with more experience.
