‘Everything is the same’ – Arsenal star told he needs to improve after Man Utd display

Paul Parker fears Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka has become too predictable going forward after his quiet display against Manchester United.

The Gunners scraped past United in their Premier League opener, with Riccardo Calafiori’s header securing a 1-0 win at Old Trafford.

But it was hardly a vintage attacking display from Mikel Arteta’s side, who lacked a great deal of fluency in the attacking third.

Summer signing Viktor Gyokeres endured an underwhelming start to his Premier League career, while Gabriel Martinelli struggled to get into the game off the left wing.

However, Parker admitted he was most concerned by the performance of Saka, who completed just three of his eight dribbles and managed just the solitary shot on goal.

The 23-year-old has been virtually ever-present in Arsenal’s front line over recent years but has now scored just once in his last ten league fixtures since returning from a long-term hamstring injury in April.

‘When you talk about Saka, I think he needs to get different pictures in his game. Everything is the same,’ Parker told Metro via 7bet football betting.

‘He hasn’t got tremendous pace. Has he really got a trick to go past people? No – he’s looking for people to dive in all the time.

‘If you stop his run, then he hasn’t really got anything else in my opinion. Everything is about him fainting and then checkinng back and crossing it, but then you have to have midfield players who are going to make those runs into the box.

‘The game was away from home which does make a difference and maybe when the set-up is different at home that will be allowed to happen.

‘But he was up against Luke Shaw, a physical presence which Saka doesn’t like, and then up against Dorgu who was very tenacious and he didn’t like that.’

‘Arsenal didn’t look like title contenders’

Having finally added an out-and-out striker over the off-season, many have tipped Arsenal to finally get over the line after three successive second-place finishes in the league.

But Parker is not convinced of Arsenal’s title credentials after their first performance of the season, and challenged Arteta to change his own methods to try and take the pressure off his side.

‘I’m still not sure about Arsenal but they are in the position that Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool have been in in the past where people are now expecting more from you all the time,’ Parker added.

‘Now you have to look at the manager and how he deals with it but he isn’t always the best best person to handle something.

‘He shows it, he wants to talk about things too much and he puts the team under more pressure and that’s the bit he hasn’t learnt about managing a side that now is expected to deliver.

‘There was expectation before, but the way they have talked themselves into this position and how they have sold themselves means that now everyone is looking at them.

‘Arsenal had that in the early years with Arsene Wenger and he handled it perfectly and knew exactly when to lift it and when to play it down.

‘Arteta has to learn that because there’s so much pressure on his team and he has to learn how to take the pressure off rather than put it on.’

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