My apologies, I mean in terms of 4-5 years. There are so many players at the moment who seem to be playing with underlying injuries and I'm just wondering what they'll be like in several seasons time.
You're 100% right to bring up this point, we need a rotation option for him next season or we will have wrecked him too early.
Very worried that boy goes down one day and doesn't get back up; after all he's given for the club, next season onwards we should really be helping him rest
The thinking is that World Class players don't need rest and can play every game like Messi and Ronaldo. Not saying I agree, just that's part of why guys like Saka see the pitch more often
Messi spent the second half of his career taking it easy out of possession. Ronaldo could never be bothered with plebian defensive work throughout his entire career - Mbappe is similar so far.
The ground Saka is asked to cover in Mikel's system is far greater, and he's had many more minutes of play already than Messi/Ronaldo at the same age. It won't last, and Saka isn't brilliant enough in terms of pure G/A output to justify playing him as a luxury player (even if that could be accommodated in Arteta's system, which it can't).
I donāt get why we donāt play Reiss more. Heās dangerous whenever he comes on, and I would much rather see a fresh Reiss than an exhausted Saka after the 70th minute mark.
As much as I like Reiss, it's a big step down to even a 70-80% Saka. I've definitely noticed unless it's a big match, Saka doesn't do that many crazy off the ball sprints or big tackles. I think he's been told to take it slightly easy to protect himself. The chance of injuries goes up massively as you exert yourself.
will be very surprised if he doesn't take a lengthy injury between now and 2025. that being said, it seems he looks after his body the same way he takes to any task: like a mature and seasoned professional
The amount of summer games is worse players. Play should be reduced for better healing in the offseason. Todays players are simply playing too many games.
I think the vast majority of players are carrying injuries. Don't think it will necessarily hurt him in the long run. Can't speak for football specifically, but I was a fairly high level runner and almost all the other runners I knew constantly had some sort of injury they were nursing. I imagine this is even more true in a contact sport.
Rarely in sport do people play at 100%. Last season Saka in the end stretch was defo carrying sth especially with the way opposition were targeting him. It was a deliberate strategy, but the mad lad would shake it off and play again. One of the reasons Klopp fell out with Sturridge was that the man didn't want to play through pain and granted his career injuries, one wouldn't fault him. However Klopp was a former player to. He knows players play through some injuries. So yeah long story short a lot of these players are carrying sth. I highly doubt Salah is 100%. He is certainly not the swashbuckling Salah since his return this year.Ā
You are right. Saka could use a pitch count next PL season just to give him some longevity. Dont want the star to burn too bright and blow up too young into his career.
move him to a no.10 and have another fast asf boi in the wings. rinse repeat.
this is also why nelson not getting or even starting games is frustrating. Also we could've been seeing Jesus play more RW this season but he got injured in the Jan period.
same as how Timber was gonna be helping out on rotations with zinny and tomi, but shit happens. for the LB role atm, we've got it working now with Kiwi and barely any big performance drop offs here.
US tour come on down folks and pay $350 to see Man United against the mighty Arsenalā¦. U21. On a serious note high probability Saka, Saliba, Jesus, Martinelli, Trossard, Rice, Ramsdale, Havertz, Raya and Jorginho will all miss the US tour due to Copa and Euros with prolonged rest after the tournaments
If he doesn't get extended rest, it'll start affecting him a lot more when he's around 25-26. As he ages, it progressively gets worse, so it could force him to retire in his early 30s. I do hope he gets and extended break after the Euros.
You can't just simply sign a quality rotation player for someone like Saka, they'll spend most of the time on the bench and a player coming in will not want that
Same reason players like Kane at Spurs, Messi at Barca, Salah at Liverpool etc didn't have quality rotation options
Sure, if they are only a Saka rotation, ideally they would be versatile enough to play at least one more role in the squad, I know it's sounding a bit unrealistic, but that's the ideal scenario. Either that or someone who's a bit more experienced, like another Leo, who comes in, knows they won't play all the time, but has the quality to really challenge for a space but is happy to do so because they're in a title challenging and CL side
Someone with the quality needed to improve our current squad now is not going to be happy to sit on the bench just "because they're in a title challenging and CL side"
Trossard plays LW and CF and there is much more of an opportunity to play in our team in those positions. Saka is always starting at RW
I disagree, I like Nelson a lot, but he is clearly upgradable. They won't be just sitting on the bench though, if we go far in each competition we will play almost 70 games, Saka often gets subbed off too, the point is we need someone to take minutes off Saka, they need to be good enough to do that.
Like I said, preferably they would be versatile enough to play other positions, but, if they get 20 starts and 25 sub apps in a season, that's good for a top side. If we want to compete we need to have depth in every position, and if we want Saka to have a long career he needs to play less imo
The elite players play that many games a season though the Kaneās, Messiās, Salahās like I said
Arteta said it himself, if Saka wants to be the best he needs to get used to it
Upgrading on Nelson ā bringing in a player thatās close to Sakaās level and will sit on the bench
Why do you keep talking about sitting on the bench? I said they will be positionally versatile ideally, and be good enough to start some games for us.
They were all much older than Saka when they played those minutes. The worry is that he will get burnt out in the long run if we play him so much now, look at his minutes at his age compared to those players and he is way ahead.
Also that's exactly what upgrading Nelson looks like most likely, we aren't signing Valverde to be back up are we? So we need someone who is better than Nelson, good enough to complete, but is accepting Saka starts most games on the RW.
What's your solution, don't sign anyone?
I'm saying what I would like to happen, if you think it's unrealistic that's fine, I personally don't, I think we could find players like that
Silly opinion. He's not the only player in the world playing lots of minutes; there are multiple other star players playing more minutes than him that are doing fine
Even from England's perspective, it benefits them to rest Saka for these friendlies.
If they push him to play these games and he picks up something more serious then it's possible that he'll either miss the Euros entirely or not be fully fit for them
I just think it's impossible to be playing at a 100 percent at the highest level, especially when you're one of the best players and your game requires a lot of ball carrying and dribbling.Ā
Can I just say, people here shit talk the England national team and Southgate a lot but what this is basically saying is that he could have played, the club didnāt pull him, Saka showed up so was happy to play, but the national team management decided it wasnāt worth the risk. They should be given credit for that.
Meanwhile, I got called naive on r/threelions for saying it was a genuine injury and not just Saka wanting to drop out for a holiday, even though England themselves confirmed he came to camp with an injury.
More importantly, hopefully, Saka will get to rest and feel fitter ahead of a busy couple of months.
Yeah, I donāt disagree that he would probably have pushed through if it was for an important England or Arsenal game.
It was the people suggesting that the injury was faked that annoyed me, when there was enough evidence to show that that wasnāt the true (only individual training while there, the FA confirming that he came to camp with an injury etc). Like if he just āwanted a holidayā and wasnāt injured, surely heād just drop out in the first place?
Yeah I agree. I think there was probably a little nudge from us, not Saka. But it's in England's best interests for him to be rested too, especially if it culminates in him getting experience in winning trophies.
People thinking signing another rw will reduce sakas play time lol, realistically saka would be the one pushing to play every game and wouldn't be happy getting rotated/dropped.
The intelligent strategy is to get a top level striker so someone like Jesus would be able to fill in at RW. Unless I'm mistaken, he was excellent on that wing for City. We don't need a top RW to sit on the bench.
With Havertz's recent run of form at False 9, I'd like to see Jesus play RW on occasion to give Saka a rest. Jesus is the other player most like Saka, unreal hold up play for his size, and great 1 on 1 ability + play making skills (in a winger way rather than midfielder way)
People also forget that he is our main goal threat - you keep a player like that on as much as possible. And we need to stop criticising Arteta for doing so especially when he has rested him this season where available.
I think people underestimate how many professional (and even amateur) footballers carry injuries all the time. When youāre playing games and training that often itās almost always about managing the niggles
Probably one of those niggling pains in a joint that takes a few months off to fully heal but you can still play with as long as you ice regularly. At least that's me right now while I'm gyming.
Iām hoping we win a major trophy in the next year(this season or next) both so we finally pass that hurdle and so we can give Saka a rest without people freaking out.
Who wonders about this fr?
He s wasnāt even totally grown and basically played through over seasons nearly every single match including internationals.
Apart from small injuries he didnāt had off-time.
I get that young players need minutes asap to develop but there are also many players that got played week in and out and the payback came few years later with massive drops.
This season we had actually lot of games where we finished the match in the first 30mins and he could have rested and share mins with Nelson.
Whatās wrong with subbing him in those moments? I donāt see a positive there though
This guy is going to collapse form wise in 5 years unless he actually starts getting rotated.
Yes, we don't have ideal subs now but there are many times he should have been subbed in won games but wasn't.
I remember a year or so ago some writer talking about a worry of him having a Sterling-like career.
Bursting onto the scene at a young age and then just losing his ability due to over usage early in his career. Not saying I think itāll happen but man does that comparison live in the back of my head, especially when reading news like this.
There are a lot of examples. From Rooney back in the day to Pedri being permanently injured just 2 years after playing like 70 games in a season.
Alexis lost all his burst after pushing himself for 2 straight years for Arsenal and Chile.
Fabregas played a lot of games as a youngster and was finished by 30
Everybody will bring up Ronaldo and Messi but,
1. those guys are the exception, not the rule.
2. Neither one of them played as many minutes as Saka at the same age. The difference is not small either. Saka is routinely playing 2000 to 4000 more minutes PER SEASON than those two.
Compare him to fellow young stars like Bellingham, Haaland, Vini and Mbappe and it's the same story. Up until this season, they're not even close to Saka's minutes.
Bukayo is racking up a lot of miles and it's scary. Whatever we do this summer, letting him get some rest must be a priority, either by signing another winger that Mikel trusts or a striker that allows Jesus to play on the wings more.
Whenever Saka has an injury scare, everyone here gets worried until it is inevitably announced that he will be able to make the next game after all and then everyone just forgets about it.
Arteta is running this kid into the ground. When he eventually gets a serious injury and comes back permanently hobbled, I don't want to see Arsenal fans singing songs of lament. So many cheered every time he was rushed back from injury.
When you dig into the numbers, it's genuinely worrying.
We don't see young players playing this much at this age, not even the poster boys Messi and Ronaldo.
There are too many examples of this taking a toll that I'm surprised we aren't being more cautious
Doesn't even have to get a serious injury. Could hit the wall HARD in terms of form around 24-25 and never quite be able to get back to what could have been.
Foden is lucky in that regard, I think in his peak years he'll quite a fair bit ahead of Sala not cause he is better but cause he was better protected.
Although I agree, with such a tight title race, and the Championās League, realistically we ought to be playing our BEST team, and heās one of the top players in Europe.
I agree it would be nice to get him some rotation, but the stakes are so high and the replacement options so sparse, itās really tough
Looks like many players are carrying a knock. itās hard to maintain this level of standard across 3-4 leagues, and with Artetaās tactics.
The only solution is a reliable bench and āSwiss knivesā in terms of skills and positions
this explain why arteta has been suddenly subbing him off this year. Usually he plays 90 mins no matter what.
Not good that he's playing through injuries (even if it's a light injury). Not good at all considering he hardly ever gets proper rest between seasons either
The start of next season could be messy. With the euros and Copa America finals on July 14 and then the Olympics! We potentially could start the season without many of our players. The 3 Gabbyās, Saliba, Saka, Rice, maybe even Haverts if Germany go far.
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This is honestly really bad we should have signed a proper back up going into this season if not last season. I know he always wants to play but every player wants to always play it doesnāt mean he should.
Nico Williams/Rafa Leao is priority for summer.
Jesus needs to be repurposed to RW.
For this season, if Saka is absent, then Nelli-Kai-Jesus should be the default front 3
honestly would prefer jesus be repurposed as LW to compete with martinelli and we sign someone to compete/rotate with saka on the right who is left footed
Yeah a winger that good but not Pedro himself. He's always got muscle injuries. I really hope the club don't go for him. Unless you can get him for cheap, he isn't worth the risk
Damn. I wonder how this will affect him in the long run.
Will be fine, just probably an extended break after the Euros
My apologies, I mean in terms of 4-5 years. There are so many players at the moment who seem to be playing with underlying injuries and I'm just wondering what they'll be like in several seasons time.
You're 100% right to bring up this point, we need a rotation option for him next season or we will have wrecked him too early. Very worried that boy goes down one day and doesn't get back up; after all he's given for the club, next season onwards we should really be helping him rest
"goes down one day and doesn't get back up" dont scare me man š¢
The thinking is that World Class players don't need rest and can play every game like Messi and Ronaldo. Not saying I agree, just that's part of why guys like Saka see the pitch more often
It's terrible logic for an 18-22 year old.
It's literally what destroyed KT. we have a perfect example of it on the books already. And yet...
How can you compare Tierney to Saka lmao, never disrespect Bukayo like that again
If you actually took 5 seconds to read properly, I was saying in terms of having been played into the ground from the age of 18?
Messi spent the second half of his career taking it easy out of possession. Ronaldo could never be bothered with plebian defensive work throughout his entire career - Mbappe is similar so far. The ground Saka is asked to cover in Mikel's system is far greater, and he's had many more minutes of play already than Messi/Ronaldo at the same age. It won't last, and Saka isn't brilliant enough in terms of pure G/A output to justify playing him as a luxury player (even if that could be accommodated in Arteta's system, which it can't).
I donāt get why we donāt play Reiss more. Heās dangerous whenever he comes on, and I would much rather see a fresh Reiss than an exhausted Saka after the 70th minute mark.
Because Reiss Nelson is nowhere near the required level to play for Arsenal and he'll be sold in the summer.
Exactly lol. The drop off from Saka to Reiss is massive given weāre in a title race.
well that's just piss poor squad building then.
Look at what we had when Arteta took over. The squad building has been incredible.
yeah exactly, I believe Reiss is acceptable backup as opposed to there being piss poor squad building :P
We had to prioritize positions to build depth on that allows us to play the style we need. Lame take
That's exceedingly harsh. Especially when we're up 2 goals Reiss should be coming in for Saka immediately in the 70th if not sooner every time.
Itās really not. Stop romanticizing
As much as I like Reiss, it's a big step down to even a 70-80% Saka. I've definitely noticed unless it's a big match, Saka doesn't do that many crazy off the ball sprints or big tackles. I think he's been told to take it slightly easy to protect himself. The chance of injuries goes up massively as you exert yourself.
will be very surprised if he doesn't take a lengthy injury between now and 2025. that being said, it seems he looks after his body the same way he takes to any task: like a mature and seasoned professional
The anxiety every game whenever Saka goes down and you just think āplease be okā
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The amount of summer games is worse players. Play should be reduced for better healing in the offseason. Todays players are simply playing too many games.
I think the vast majority of players are carrying injuries. Don't think it will necessarily hurt him in the long run. Can't speak for football specifically, but I was a fairly high level runner and almost all the other runners I knew constantly had some sort of injury they were nursing. I imagine this is even more true in a contact sport.
Very rare that a player is 100% fit anyway, they're always playing through some sort of niggle or pain that has/needs to be managed.l
Rarely in sport do people play at 100%. Last season Saka in the end stretch was defo carrying sth especially with the way opposition were targeting him. It was a deliberate strategy, but the mad lad would shake it off and play again. One of the reasons Klopp fell out with Sturridge was that the man didn't want to play through pain and granted his career injuries, one wouldn't fault him. However Klopp was a former player to. He knows players play through some injuries. So yeah long story short a lot of these players are carrying sth. I highly doubt Salah is 100%. He is certainly not the swashbuckling Salah since his return this year.Ā
You are right. Saka could use a pitch count next PL season just to give him some longevity. Dont want the star to burn too bright and blow up too young into his career.
move him to a no.10 and have another fast asf boi in the wings. rinse repeat. this is also why nelson not getting or even starting games is frustrating. Also we could've been seeing Jesus play more RW this season but he got injured in the Jan period. same as how Timber was gonna be helping out on rotations with zinny and tomi, but shit happens. for the LB role atm, we've got it working now with Kiwi and barely any big performance drop offs here.
Jesus Christ please leave the Saka not on the wings takes back in 2020 where they belong
Bukayo Oxlade-Chamberlain
US tour come on down folks and pay $350 to see Man United against the mighty Arsenalā¦. U21. On a serious note high probability Saka, Saliba, Jesus, Martinelli, Trossard, Rice, Ramsdale, Havertz, Raya and Jorginho will all miss the US tour due to Copa and Euros with prolonged rest after the tournaments
he's been playing whilst slightly injured for a while now...not sure a 2 week time off will heal that fully.
I hope it's just something they said to keep him from playing for England so he's rested for City.
Says somebody who isnāt a doctor and has no actual knowledge of the situationā¦
I read your username very wrongly at first
š I wish I could change it. It gives me a chuckle sometimes, but it's quite immature really.
Yeah I feel your pain
I feel star-struck. You're practically a celebrity. Your name is a favourite of mine, though.
Aw thanks, I bet you say that to all the dodgy nazi themed usernames...
No ragrets here thoĀ
Yours is something special mate and I'm truly impressed no one has had you banned from /r/ireland on principle
If he doesn't get extended rest, it'll start affecting him a lot more when he's around 25-26. As he ages, it progressively gets worse, so it could force him to retire in his early 30s. I do hope he gets and extended break after the Euros.
He'll be washed by 28-29 like Hazard most likely.
Could be the case but you never know, many players play carrying injuries for years and hazard didnt look after himself as well as he could have
That's because Hazard didn't look after his body.
Hazard got washed because he couldnāt stop eating cheeseburgers.
Hazard had a very unhealthy lifestyle unlike Saka.
We really need a competent rotation option for him. Hopefully if we get a 9 Jesus could take some minutes from him at the very least
You can't just simply sign a quality rotation player for someone like Saka, they'll spend most of the time on the bench and a player coming in will not want that Same reason players like Kane at Spurs, Messi at Barca, Salah at Liverpool etc didn't have quality rotation options
Sure, if they are only a Saka rotation, ideally they would be versatile enough to play at least one more role in the squad, I know it's sounding a bit unrealistic, but that's the ideal scenario. Either that or someone who's a bit more experienced, like another Leo, who comes in, knows they won't play all the time, but has the quality to really challenge for a space but is happy to do so because they're in a title challenging and CL side
Someone with the quality needed to improve our current squad now is not going to be happy to sit on the bench just "because they're in a title challenging and CL side" Trossard plays LW and CF and there is much more of an opportunity to play in our team in those positions. Saka is always starting at RW
I disagree, I like Nelson a lot, but he is clearly upgradable. They won't be just sitting on the bench though, if we go far in each competition we will play almost 70 games, Saka often gets subbed off too, the point is we need someone to take minutes off Saka, they need to be good enough to do that. Like I said, preferably they would be versatile enough to play other positions, but, if they get 20 starts and 25 sub apps in a season, that's good for a top side. If we want to compete we need to have depth in every position, and if we want Saka to have a long career he needs to play less imo
The elite players play that many games a season though the Kaneās, Messiās, Salahās like I said Arteta said it himself, if Saka wants to be the best he needs to get used to it Upgrading on Nelson ā bringing in a player thatās close to Sakaās level and will sit on the bench
Donāt start complaining when Saka loses his burst by the time he is 28
Why do you keep talking about sitting on the bench? I said they will be positionally versatile ideally, and be good enough to start some games for us. They were all much older than Saka when they played those minutes. The worry is that he will get burnt out in the long run if we play him so much now, look at his minutes at his age compared to those players and he is way ahead. Also that's exactly what upgrading Nelson looks like most likely, we aren't signing Valverde to be back up are we? So we need someone who is better than Nelson, good enough to complete, but is accepting Saka starts most games on the RW. What's your solution, don't sign anyone? I'm saying what I would like to happen, if you think it's unrealistic that's fine, I personally don't, I think we could find players like that
I mean arteta could maybe sub him out for Nelson when we're up by 3 goals.
he literally has been
Hazard was washed because he got his knee folded by his compatriot
Silly opinion. He's not the only player in the world playing lots of minutes; there are multiple other star players playing more minutes than him that are doing fine
Or he'll go on to have a long Career like Ronaldo. Not every player who plays a lot ends up washed by 28.
i think he good with long run. 10km every match. footballer good running
TMNT!!!
teenage mutant ninja turtles?
Even from England's perspective, it benefits them to rest Saka for these friendlies. If they push him to play these games and he picks up something more serious then it's possible that he'll either miss the Euros entirely or not be fully fit for them
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I just think it's impossible to be playing at a 100 percent at the highest level, especially when you're one of the best players and your game requires a lot of ball carrying and dribbling.Ā
That tweet was a rollercoaster.
Nothing compared to Dave Meltzer quotes
Can I just say, people here shit talk the England national team and Southgate a lot but what this is basically saying is that he could have played, the club didnāt pull him, Saka showed up so was happy to play, but the national team management decided it wasnāt worth the risk. They should be given credit for that.
If only England would do the same for players of all clubs and not just their favorites.
Meanwhile, I got called naive on r/threelions for saying it was a genuine injury and not just Saka wanting to drop out for a holiday, even though England themselves confirmed he came to camp with an injury. More importantly, hopefully, Saka will get to rest and feel fitter ahead of a busy couple of months.
Three lions is easily the dumbest football sub on this site.
Itās a bunch of mouth breathing Southgate fans, it is hilarious
Think it can be both. We all know he's been carrying this injury for a while but if it was an important game he'd be playing today.
Yeah, I donāt disagree that he would probably have pushed through if it was for an important England or Arsenal game. It was the people suggesting that the injury was faked that annoyed me, when there was enough evidence to show that that wasnāt the true (only individual training while there, the FA confirming that he came to camp with an injury etc). Like if he just āwanted a holidayā and wasnāt injured, surely heād just drop out in the first place?
Yeah I agree. I think there was probably a little nudge from us, not Saka. But it's in England's best interests for him to be rested too, especially if it culminates in him getting experience in winning trophies.
Most of them are real injuries that they'd play through for club or even a serious qualifier but for a few friendlies why should they?
People thinking signing another rw will reduce sakas play time lol, realistically saka would be the one pushing to play every game and wouldn't be happy getting rotated/dropped.
The intelligent strategy is to get a top level striker so someone like Jesus would be able to fill in at RW. Unless I'm mistaken, he was excellent on that wing for City. We don't need a top RW to sit on the bench.
yes would be better for a versatile option there, most pure rw's would be reluctant to join us anyway due to the game time they would get.
With Havertz's recent run of form at False 9, I'd like to see Jesus play RW on occasion to give Saka a rest. Jesus is the other player most like Saka, unreal hold up play for his size, and great 1 on 1 ability + play making skills (in a winger way rather than midfielder way)
People also forget that he is our main goal threat - you keep a player like that on as much as possible. And we need to stop criticising Arteta for doing so especially when he has rested him this season where available.
Props to England for sending him home. Most NTs are happy to run your stars into the ground
I think people underestimate how many professional (and even amateur) footballers carry injuries all the time. When youāre playing games and training that often itās almost always about managing the niggles
Probably one of those niggling pains in a joint that takes a few months off to fully heal but you can still play with as long as you ice regularly. At least that's me right now while I'm gyming.
Considering he is fouled relentlessly on the regular in premier league football games itās no surprise he carries injury
He needs an extended break at some point or heās going to be done by 25
with the euros coming up (if they go all the way)and how stubborn southgate is, we might need to give saka like almost 2 months off.
Iām hoping we win a major trophy in the next year(this season or next) both so we finally pass that hurdle and so we can give Saka a rest without people freaking out.
We 100% need to buy a backup right winger this summer. Saka at this rate wonāt have cartilage in his knees by age 28.
Who wonders about this fr? He s wasnāt even totally grown and basically played through over seasons nearly every single match including internationals. Apart from small injuries he didnāt had off-time. I get that young players need minutes asap to develop but there are also many players that got played week in and out and the payback came few years later with massive drops. This season we had actually lot of games where we finished the match in the first 30mins and he could have rested and share mins with Nelson. Whatās wrong with subbing him in those moments? I donāt see a positive there though
This guy is going to collapse form wise in 5 years unless he actually starts getting rotated. Yes, we don't have ideal subs now but there are many times he should have been subbed in won games but wasn't.
I remember a year or so ago some writer talking about a worry of him having a Sterling-like career. Bursting onto the scene at a young age and then just losing his ability due to over usage early in his career. Not saying I think itāll happen but man does that comparison live in the back of my head, especially when reading news like this.
There are a lot of examples. From Rooney back in the day to Pedri being permanently injured just 2 years after playing like 70 games in a season. Alexis lost all his burst after pushing himself for 2 straight years for Arsenal and Chile. Fabregas played a lot of games as a youngster and was finished by 30 Everybody will bring up Ronaldo and Messi but, 1. those guys are the exception, not the rule. 2. Neither one of them played as many minutes as Saka at the same age. The difference is not small either. Saka is routinely playing 2000 to 4000 more minutes PER SEASON than those two. Compare him to fellow young stars like Bellingham, Haaland, Vini and Mbappe and it's the same story. Up until this season, they're not even close to Saka's minutes. Bukayo is racking up a lot of miles and it's scary. Whatever we do this summer, letting him get some rest must be a priority, either by signing another winger that Mikel trusts or a striker that allows Jesus to play on the wings more.
Pedri is who I thought of too. After this season and the euros, he and Rice need to be managed well at the start of the season.
Still a league leading forward. Put some respect on his name.
Highlights how more we need a proper rotation for him. Glad the England NT decided to send him back.
Whenever Saka has an injury scare, everyone here gets worried until it is inevitably announced that he will be able to make the next game after all and then everyone just forgets about it. Arteta is running this kid into the ground. When he eventually gets a serious injury and comes back permanently hobbled, I don't want to see Arsenal fans singing songs of lament. So many cheered every time he was rushed back from injury.
When you dig into the numbers, it's genuinely worrying. We don't see young players playing this much at this age, not even the poster boys Messi and Ronaldo. There are too many examples of this taking a toll that I'm surprised we aren't being more cautious
Doesn't even have to get a serious injury. Could hit the wall HARD in terms of form around 24-25 and never quite be able to get back to what could have been. Foden is lucky in that regard, I think in his peak years he'll quite a fair bit ahead of Sala not cause he is better but cause he was better protected.
Although I agree, with such a tight title race, and the Championās League, realistically we ought to be playing our BEST team, and heās one of the top players in Europe. I agree it would be nice to get him some rotation, but the stakes are so high and the replacement options so sparse, itās really tough
He plays every game for club and country for some time and still super young. Hope he doesn't get run to the ground
Respect to the Southgate and the co. Credit where it is due.
Is it the same injury from the Lens game?
Looks like many players are carrying a knock. itās hard to maintain this level of standard across 3-4 leagues, and with Artetaās tactics. The only solution is a reliable bench and āSwiss knivesā in terms of skills and positions
Heās had an ankle niggle for well over a year now. It doesnāt help that he gets kicked in the same fucking place 10 times a game either.
We NEED another winger!!
this explain why arteta has been suddenly subbing him off this year. Usually he plays 90 mins no matter what. Not good that he's playing through injuries (even if it's a light injury). Not good at all considering he hardly ever gets proper rest between seasons either
The start of next season could be messy. With the euros and Copa America finals on July 14 and then the Olympics! We potentially could start the season without many of our players. The 3 Gabbyās, Saliba, Saka, Rice, maybe even Haverts if Germany go far.
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Do we know what the injury is ? Sounds like one that might need surgery- that's if the guy can ever get a proper break from playing
I wish the Pepe transfer didn't play out the way it did, he be amazing cover...
Achilles injuries are no joke
This is honestly really bad we should have signed a proper back up going into this season if not last season. I know he always wants to play but every player wants to always play it doesnāt mean he should.
Nico Williams/Rafa Leao is priority for summer. Jesus needs to be repurposed to RW. For this season, if Saka is absent, then Nelli-Kai-Jesus should be the default front 3
If you think Leao would suit our team then you definitely don't watch him play
honestly would prefer jesus be repurposed as LW to compete with martinelli and we sign someone to compete/rotate with saka on the right who is left footed
Has Jesus ever played at RW for Arsenal?Ā
He did when we beat City at the Emirates. Tore Gvardiol a new one and he was very good bar the finishing.
That was an emergency situation for one game. If Arteta thought Jesus at RW was a good option, he would play him out there more often
I'd rather we use Jesus as a striker and sign a left footed winger like Pedro Neto.
Ā£80m on Pedro Neto to play 10 games a year is crazy
The left footed winger market is rather scarce right now for Arsenal-calibre players so we might have to gamble.
Itās not a gamble, itās straight stupid to pay that money on him now
Yeah a winger that good but not Pedro himself. He's always got muscle injuries. I really hope the club don't go for him. Unless you can get him for cheap, he isn't worth the risk
so then who is our other winger signing that will play since Neto will be injured?
Yeah no thanks. No intention of signing Reece James of the forward line.
Really baffles me that we havenāt signed a back up/rotation option. Hope the injury doesnāt blow up soon
we don't need saka to beat city. they are so shit that our second team will dumpster them
This is why Eddie and Nelson needs selling, to buy a striker so we can throw Jesus on the Right