Bukayo Saka: Why Mikel Areta should move Arsenal star to central midfield

That’s particularly true when studying the tactical grooves of a modern Premier League match and even more pronounced when it’s Arsenal, England’s most self-consciously conforming football club.

Everything moves as it’s supposed to under Mikel Arteta. The passing networks have an algorithmic certainty to them, each position and pass demarcated with laser precision. It's becoming a bit of a problem, hence three defeats on the bounce as opponents begin to counteract their predictable movements, and complaints from neutrals – who are starting to find Arsenal pretty boring.

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Perhaps that’s why such an innocuous moment in the 26th minute of their 2-0 defeat by Liverpool felt like more than it was; like a bolt of electricity that snapped Arsenal out of their hypnotic rhythm.

Within it is a potential solution.

A moment of hope

Bukayo Saka made one of the out-to in runs off the right wing that Arsenal love to make and Ben White duly gave him the ball.

He cut a pass through to Martin Odegaard and then did something strange.

He ran infield – and got the ball back from him, a clever one-two that spun Alexis Mac Allister out of the game and opened up the pitch.

Saka nicked a pass to Kai Havertz beyond the out-rushing Ibrahima Konate, who caused panic by leaving the Liverpool defence.

The ball was then slipped to Reiss Nelson and squared back to Saka, now in a central position and behind Konate, and he shot low at Alisson Becker.

It was barely a highlight, yet it was the high point of their game. Nothing happened, but at least something happened. Here was the first time that Arsenal did something different, something exciting, since their abject run of form, which now stretches to one win in seven in all competitions, began just before Christmas.

Saka stifled by tactics

Nobody looks more restricted by Arteta’s tactics, more locked onto the tracks, than Saka. When he first emerged as a teenager he was a burst of light, a talent so dazzlingly elastic he moved effortlessly from left-back to central midfield to right or left wing.

Saka wriggled out of tight spots and weaved through lines no matter where he was put, excelling to such an extent that nobody seemed quite sure where he would end up. He could do everything; could be anything he wanted to be.

Perhaps inevitably he settled in the most high-end, high-product position, Saka’s skillset honed until he was whittled down to a man who plays at the game’s sharpest edge. The hardest thing in football is scoring and creating goals. So that’s where Saka went and that’s what he did. Cut inside, cross, assist, shoot.

But in the middle of his first senior wobble – his quarter-life crisis – there is reason to wonder if Saka hasn’t been over-refined and run into a cul-de-sac by his manager’s tactical precision.

Long-term, it makes perfect sense for him to remain an elite final-third attacker and leave the other stuff to less talented players, but while he and Arsenal are in a rut there is logic in unleashing the potential we saw in that 26th-minute confetti cannon moment.

Havertz role not working

It was Havertz who was signed to be Arsenal’s second free eight alongside Odegaard, the basic idea being to emulate how Manchester City have used two quasi-tens over the years under Pep Guardiola.

It just isn’t working so far, which has meant Arsenal doubling down on shuffling the ball out to Saka on the right, who, faced with two defenders, is forced to shuffle the ball back inside again and restart their horseshoe passing around the edge of an opposition low block.

Arteta needs to shake things up somehow, if only to wake up his players and reinvigorate their movements, but also to confuse opponents finding it increasingly easy to plan for Arsenal’s attacking shape.

Why not try Saka as one of those eights?

Central Saka offers solution

Being left-footed, Saka could play to the left of centre, keeping Odegaard in his preferred position, with Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Jesus moving into the right wing position. The more you think about it, the more it starts to make sense.

From a central position Saka would hold possession considerably more often and in the most creatively fertile area of the pitch. What’s more, his intelligent movement between the lines and incredible press-resistant qualities (long forgotten these days, but his defining quality as a teenager) would instantly solve the passing-lane blockage that seems to exist on Arsenal’s left side.

Saka has grown substantially in stature and experience since his permanent move to the right wing in 2022. He ought to be capable of dominating from the centre, and indeed would likely revel in the 360 degree passing angles and in the ability to turn left or right, as opposed to that dreary repetition required of a left footer cutting in from the right wing.

Saka another Silva?

If it sounds odd – if it sounds too outside the Guardiola stylings of the Arsenal manager – then consider that both Bernardo and David Silva were inverted right wingers before they started working with Arteta’s mentor. Placed back in the centre to flit around like a Silva, there is no reason why Saka wouldn’t offer all the grace and line-breaking brilliance of a silky City number eight.

Arteta needs something dramatic to lift Arsenal out of their heavy, sleepy slump. Saka is their superstar; their one truly world-class player. Do something weird. Stick him in the middle. Let him run free for a bit.

If not for the Arsenal fans or for the neutrals tiring of the same old patterns, then do it because it’s what Guardiola would do. If that still isn’t convincing, then do it for the analysts who have to scrutinise every Arsenal game - and who enjoyed a rare rush of adrenaline when Saka broke rank.

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