In his latest blog, the Betway ambassador discusses the biggest change in Bukayo Saka’s game, and the new managers at Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid.
Bukayo Saka named you as the person who has helped him the most in football. How much does that mean to you?
I don’t want to say too much, but some of the guys have my number and whenever they want to call me, they know they can. What we talk about is on them to say if they want to, but they know they can call me and talk about life, football or whatever.
I can only say thank you for what Bukayo said. It’s just calling a friend, I guess, because I consider Bukayo like a little brother in a certain way.
Whenever I can speak to a player, I think that should be your duty. You don’t owe anything to anyone, but you give. I will say that honesty is key, so whenever I speak to a player I am brutally honest.
Saka said he admired how you struck fear into defenders. How do you develop that, and is it a quality you see in him?
Definitely. Consistency is key, and Bukayo has been consistent for the past two or three years with England and Arsenal. Sometimes, stats don’t tell you how a player plays. If you take Andres Iniesta and you only look at his stats, you’ll think he was an OK player. Now if you watch the game, it’s a different ball game.
Stats don’t tell you that Bukayo Saka goes up and down, defends the other winger, helps his right back, goes on the counter and tries to deliver. The amount of time that people kick him, he gets back up and he goes again, and he wants the ball in every situation. You have to watch the game to see that. Unfortunately, nowadays a lot of people only look at the stats.
This is where Saka gives you a lot of options as a coach. We saw in the Euros when he started to play as a wing back – give me another winger right now of that magnitude who will accept to play as a wing back, or defend like he does.
You have to watch the game to see what a player is doing, and what Bukayo brings to a team is second to none.
What has been the biggest improvement in Saka’s game since he broke into the team in 2018?
His eyes have changed.
You know when someone has that look, it’s over, and I think that changed a bit for Bukayo. Sometimes people said, “Bukayo is a nice guy.” I don’t like that, personally. On the field, you don’t have to be nice. Winners are not nice. They want to win.
Arsenal have brought in throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark – do you think they’re right to explore the finest margins, or is football being overcomplicated?
No, not at all. I think we’re not doing enough in football, compared to other sports. Why is there only a specific coach for only one position – goalkeeping? Is defending not an art? Is being a midfielder, making assists, defending as a team, being a striker not an art? When a striker is struggling mentally to find the net, can you not have someone to speak to him or teach him something?
We all know that specialised coaching works, because without set pieces Arsenal wouldn’t be top of the league, because our top goalscorer is on five goals. So why don’t we have position coaches? I went to the NBA game in London, there were 10 coaches behind the bench. They have more coaches than players. In football, it seems like we think we know everything.
We know those details matter. Sometimes you can unlock a game on set pieces. You can win it or lose on a throw in.
Liam Rosenior has been named the new Chelsea manager. What did you think of his time at Strasbourg?
He did extremely well in France and was very unfortunate to miss out on Europe with literally the last kick of the season. It’s good to see a young manager coming through. He knows the game in England, and he has good ideas. The game against Brentford was tough, as he was expecting, but he has a way of trying to play out from the back, energy, press.
It’s early doors, but I just hope he is going to have time. We have our example with Mikel Arteta. You need to give the manager time, money, players, and still sometimes you need luck and things to go your way to win that title. It took Mikel maybe three-and-a-half years to be competitive, and seven years to look like they can win the league. It doesn’t happen just like that.
The rotation right now of coaches at every club is just a joke. It’s just not normal, and you don’t want to see that as the next coach. How do you implement your game? What happened to giving people a chance to be able to show what they can do? I don’t see how the players have to adapt to different styles, different coaches and different ideas every six months. What company works like that?
People don’t think about what the managers go through. He’s a human being, but nobody cares about him or how he’s feeling. You move the family to a new location, to a new school, and then four months later you get the sack and you don’t know what to do. People will say you’re getting paid, but you’re still a human being.
So let Rosenior evaluate his team, see who can play with who, with how he likes to play. I hope that’s going to have the chance to adjust, and it can take two-and-a-half to three years.
Michael Carrick has come in at Manchester United. What was it like playing against him, and is he a good fit for United based on what he achieved at Middlesbrough?
Whenever I played against him, it was always an issue because of how he sees the game, could make his team tick and stop your team playing. He had a brain on the field, and you can see he has one off the field.
One thing I like is that he’s been at United a few days but the players were already celebrating with him against City. He also took a strong decision by putting Kobbie Mainoo back in. The guy didn’t play all season and he was the best player out there, for me. I know how it is to not play for a very long time, and then you have to stop City playing. Casemiro left the field with cramps and Mainoo was still running. At that level, when you’re missing minutes and match fitness, it’s tough, especially against City.
It looks like Carrick is not scared to make a decision, not to start Cunha, and going with Mbeumo as a No. 9. It’s only a start because we can be here in six months and people may ask if he’s the right guy, because in football it goes quickly. But he’s a young manager that knows the club, and hopefully for Man Utd – although not this weekend – it can be good. I wish him all the best.
You said before that it was “absurd” that Xabi Alonso was under pressure, but highlighted the difference between coaching and managing players at Real Madrid. Now that he’s gone, what do you think of the club’s decision?
Real Madrid are not shy about getting rid of a manager if it doesn’t work. I will always find it difficult when I see a manager leaving when he didn’t get the time to work, but you have some teams where it is different. They have a certain way of dealing with stuff at Madrid, and it will not change.
You have some teams that you need to manage and some teams that you need to coach. When you are in a club like Real Madrid or Barcelona, you are getting judged on results and how you play. They respect winning there, and unfortunately when you’re a coach, if you don’t win, you’re wrong. From the noise that we’re hearing, some of the players were not happy. I’m not saying that Xabi Alonso was wrong, I’m just saying when you lose the dressing room, you’re behind the 8-ball and it becomes very difficult.
In these clubs, you are judged on what you’re not doing, you’re not judged on what you did. They’re going to judge you quick, and when I went to Spain I saw that it’s a different level.
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- Source: https://blog.betway.com/football/thierry-henry-stats-dont-show-what-saka-brings-to-arsenal/
