Mikel Arteta told to give Bukayo Saka new Arsenal role to get firing £52million man in team

Bukayo Saka played with the shackles off when starting in the No10 position – Mikel Arteta should continue with the experiment.

That’s the view of ex-Arsenal player Perry Groves as well as Gunners fan and YouTuber James Bayliss, who believe that the switch in position was proof he can play with Noni Madueke.

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Arteta tinkered with his line-up for his side’s FA Cup fourth round meeting with Wigan on Sunday, which saw Arsenal blow away their League One opponents.

A devastating 4-0 win saw all four goals come inside the opening 30 minutes, with Arsenal becoming the first time since the Premier League’s inception in 1992 to achieve the feat in an FA Cup tie.

And had it not been for Riccardo Caladiori’s withdrawal during the warm-up, Gooners wouldn’t have witnessed a different role in the team for Saka.

Myles Lewis-Skelly was set to finally start at left central midfield, with Eberechi Eze slotting in behind Gabriel Jesus as the No.10.

But due to Calafiori’s minor injury he suffered, Arteta moved Lewis-Skelly back to his left-back slot, with Eze then dropping deeper, and Saka, who had been named on the bench, starting in an advanced midfield role.

His usual right wing spot was taken by Madueke, who is currently on a rich vein of form with his opening goal against Wigan his third strike from his last five games in all competitions.

It was the first time that Saka had featured in the middle of the pitch since the 2020/21 season.

Saka and Madueke expertly combined for Arsenal’s third goal against the Latics, with a defence splitting one-two leading to Jack Hunt’s eventual own goal.

And his performance – and link-up play with £52million summer transfer Madueke – had Gooners urging Arteta to keep the pair in the same position for Wednesday night’s trip to Wolves – live on talkSPORT.

It is a view shared by talkSPORT’s Inside Gooners panel, with Bayliss of the opinion that Saka looked to be playing with freedom – unburdened from his usual position on the flank.

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Waxing lyrical over his display in the No.10 role, he said: “I thought he looked great!

“We saw a little bit of Saka in central midfield in 2020, very early days of Arteta, we haven’t really seen it since.

“In fact, even when he’s on the right, we rarely see him able to sit inside a little bit and be where Mo Salah might be a lot of the time or has been in his Liverpool career.

“We see him so often on the touchline, I enjoyed watching him getting space.

“Because where Madueke is drawing the full-back to him, so often Saka was able to just make the underlap or receive it.

“Yeah, under pressure, but he can go different ways, he’s not kind of bogged down by the touchline.

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“You saw a little bit more of inventiveness to his play, you saw him just look a bit freer, it was really good to see.

“I really enjoyed it and I hope it’s something Arteta considers for the rest of the season.”

Gunners hero Perry Groves, who won two league titles at Higbury, agreed, as he stated: “You know what I think it was?

“He can’t be doubled up on when he’s playing in there [behind striker].

“You can’t go to him, when he’s playing out wide, he’s always doubled up on.

“And what we did earlier in the season when [Jurrien] Timber was playing, and when he’s rested, Ben White, then they was able to negate that by going on the underlap and overlap, so he’s playing in there freer.”

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As it stands, Saka and Madueke’s only start together in the Premier League came in the 5-0 win over Leeds in August, which saw the latter deployed on the left wing.

But Groves believes that having them play so close to each other on the pitch will only strike fear into the opposition’s defence.

He said: “What it does is, it gives doubt in the opposition’s mind, because when they see the team sheet now, you could guarantee that Saka would be playing on the right.

“So now, you can play Maduele and Saka in the same XI, which just gives you even more options, which is good.”

Regarding the clash with Wolves, Groves remarked: “There’s one thing that he [Arteta] can’t do, he can’t leave Madueke out.

“You can’t leave a player out who scores a vital goal with a brilliant header against Brentford and then scores again and plays really well against Wigan. I think Madueke will play.”

On whether Saka should retain his place in the starting XI as he builds up his match fitness, Groves said: “I don’t know, because he played his 45 minutes and managed his minutes, didn’t he?

“He could go again, he [Arteta] could say, ‘Right, you’re going to play with [Eberechi] Eze and Saka as the two No.10s.'”

Groves then stated: “[Martin] Zubimendi will come in, [Declan] Rice will be on that left side [of central midfield] and Eze on the bench.”

Arsenal go into the match at Molineux looking to bounce back following last week’s 1-1 draw at Brentford.

Victory will see the Gunners extend their lead at the top over Manchester City to seven points, albeit having played a game more, ahead of Sunday’s meeting with rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

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