Ian Wright told Match of the Day on BBC One that Bukayo Saka has ‘held the club up on his own’ recently after Arsenal recorded back-to-back wins on Tuesday.
After months of confidence-draining results and performances, Arsenal recorded a deserved 1-0 win against Brighton, with Saka providing the assist for the only goal of the game after his speedy and energetic run down the right flank.
Before the match, Mikel Arteta opted to start Emile Smith-Rowe, Saka and Gabriel Martinelli in the forward areas, as they all impressed once again.
Wright touched upon all those players and how they have helped turn it around for the Gunners during recent matches.
“The Arsenal fans have known about these guys,” said Wright. “Martinelli, Emile Smith-Rowe and Saka, we are seeing with what he has done.
“The bravery that they showed. They continue to try and get into spaces. They continue to try and stretch Brighton and in the second half it worked a lot better.
You look at Emile Smith-Rowe. The touch. The energy. The fitness and then you have them [Brighton] stretched. This wasn’t happening before [breaking fast]. It was very slow. Very negative. And very sideways.
“Saka was fantastic today. He has literally held the club up on his own for a little while with the creativity. But this was him at his best [his run and assist down the right] – those three boys have literally turned it around for the last two games for us.”
It says a lot about the Arsenal youngsters that it’s them who have shed some light on a team that was potentially in a relegation battle not so long ago.
Arsenal aren’t in any danger in that regard but they will want to push ahead and hope to break into those European places during this crazy season.
Whilst some will feel that is difficult, it needs to be remembered that teams are best prepared to leave their worst performances for the start of the season and their best for the crunch moments.
Could Arsenal do just that and turn their previously abject season around?
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