Mikel Arteta has bought Bukayo Saka back down to earth by reminding the Arsenal star he still has plenty of works ons.
The winger scored the winner for his side in the Europa League as they kept up their perfect record by seeing off Bodo/Glimt in Norway. Saka's strike after 24 minutes settled the contest and came after his brace had helped beat Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
The England star continues to grow in stature, going from strength to strength as the Gunners enjoy a stellar start to the campaign. Saka has been crucial in that but, ahead of the World Cup, Arteta has told the academy graduate that improvements can certainly be made to the defensive side of his game.
He told BT Sport : “He can become much better. He had moments in the game where he was really good, other moments in the game where he can improve and demand more from himself. Especially in defensive moments that allowed the left-full back to press the play and break our press too easily. So, a lot of things to do.”
Saka has scored four times in all competitions so far this term and has been a vital part of the Arsenal attack. He's also shown himself willing to step up in the big moments, notably on Sunday when he scored the winner against Liverpool from the spot.
Arteta was full of praise for his side, who managed to end Bodo/Glimt's impressive European run, but underlined areas where his side needed to be better. He said: “It’s a really tough place to come, they’ve won here the last 14 games in European competition and that’s not a coincidence, we’ve seen that tonight.
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“We had good periods in the game, we had periods we struggled especially in the second half. We didn’t find enough continuity, in some moments we were lucky not to concede a goal.”
Arsenal were presented with a unique challenge as they played on an artificial pitch, which they will have very little experience on. Saka admitted it was difficult but was happy to pick up the win. He said: “Yeah, it did. You know, it was skidding across the floor really fast and stuff like this. But that’s not an excuse you know, a lot of us have grown up (on it).
"Myself at Hale End, I played on astroturf pitches a lot. So it’s no excuse you know, we just have to play our game and get on with it. It’s a very difficult place to come and we left here with three points, so we have to just take it and focus on Sunday now.”
