West Brom win shows Mikel Arteta who Arsenal’s most important player is
Arsenal: Arteta gives honest assessment of progress
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Arsenal recovered after a disappointing week to defeat West Brom in the Premier League on Sunday, with the win also proving to manager Mikel Arteta who his most important player is. Goals from Emile Smith Rowe, Nicolas Pepe and Willian were enough to secure the three points.
But it was the performance of Bukayo Saka which most delighted Gunners fans, with the youngster impressing once again.
Saka was mainly played at left-back by Arteta last season, as he broke into the Arsenal senior squad, but has found more success on the right wing this term.
From that position out wide, he has scored six goals and notched eight assists in all competitions this campaign, emerging as one of Arsenal’s few bright sports.
But with Kieran Tierney still not yet fully fit after suffering a knee injury and the Scot’s deputy Granit Xhaka also sidelined, it was Saka who Arteta selected at left-back for the visit of the Baggies.
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The Englishman continually went on the attack, overwhelming West Brom right-back Darnell Furlong with his runs forward.
Even Sam Allardyce switching his wingers did nothing to alleviate the pressure that Saka was putting on his defenders, with the Gunners well on top.
It was apt then that the 19-year-old was heavily involved when Arsenal opened the scoring, with his pinpoint cross finding the run of Smith Rowe, who volleyed in.
Astonishingly, that was Saka’s 19th assist in all competitions for Arsenal, the most of any player for the club since he made his debut in November 2018.
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With Arsenal set for a summer of rebuilding after a poor season, Arteta would do well to base his future plans around Saka.
His versatility has been key this year, with transfermarkt revealing he has played as many as six different positions so far.
Following his starring role in the win against the Baggies, Arteta made clear his admiration of the youngster.
“Yeah, he’s a kid that has the intelligence to understand different positions,” Arteta said.
“Today we asked him to play in that position because of how West Brom set up and we felt that we could exploit his qualities there.
“He has still things to learn, obviously defensively because it’s been a while since he played in that position.
“But I think he had the right approach to it. That’s the first and most important thing. And then his quality defines a lot of moments there.”
The win over Allardyce’s side was enough to lift Arsenal to ninth in the Premier League, with Saka hoping to be included in the England squad for this summer’s European Championship.
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