The burden of defeat in the Euro 2020 Final fell on Bukayo Saka’s shoulders; the youngster missed the spot-kick that gave Italy the cup. However, his club manager Mikel Arteta thinks that that miss turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the forward.
Saka scored one and assisted one as Arsenal saw Watford off at the Vicarage Road to go fourth in the Premier League. Those were the Englishman’s eighth goal and fifth assist of the season – such has been his key influence in the current Arsenal side.
However, at one point, it looked like the forward would need time to recover from the mental trauma that came with missing the crucial spot-kick that handed Italy the Euro 2020 cup at the expense of England. Nonetheless, his coach Mikel Arteta believes that that incident, in turn, had a positive impact on Saka.
“I think Bukayo had an experience in the summer that not a lot of players would ever have and I think it was great for his career because the football world showed how much they like him and how much they respect him,”
“I think that was a big boost for him to realize in difficult moments that people are going to give him support, and the club did exactly the same as his teammates.”
Arteta said to the media, following Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Watford.
Saka broke into the Arsenal first team during the 2019/20 season, under the then manager Unai Emery. The youngster garnered minutes across the pitch before, later in the 2020/21 season, Arteta fixed his position closer to the goal and around areas within which he could have had maximum impact.
The positional switch reflected in Saka’s numbers. The Englishman scored nine of his 20 total goals this season – with eight of those coming in the league itself. In doing so, the 20-year-old surpassed his best seasonal tally and is on track to enter double digits for both goals and assists for the first time in his senior career.
