Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka is set to be a prominent figure for England at a major tournament once again, with the winger carrying the hopes and dreams of a nation as the Three Lions prepare for the 2026 World Cup.
The United States, Mexico and Canada are set to host the this showpiece competition, which will span six weeks over the course of the summer. This will be the 23rd World Cup, and England will be on the hunt for their second triumph, having not won it since 1966.
Thomas Tuchel will select his 26-man squad in less than a month, and Saka is almost certain to be included, despite enduring a difficult campaign riddled with injuries at Arsenal. The Three Lions have been pitted against Croatia, Ghana and Panama in Group L, and thus, Saka will be confident about his ability to impact the tournament in the early stages.
What Bukayo Saka will bring to England this summer
Arsenal fans will be well aware of Saka’s extensive list of attributes, although they’ll be less knowledgeable about how he fits into Tuchel’s England system.
The German manager is in the Pep Guardiola school of control football, favouring using possession to dominate and suffocate the opposition, largely as a defensive tactic. Tuchel deploys similar in-possession structures to the likes of Guardiola and Mikel Arteta, instructing five players to stay behind the ball at all times and five players ahead of the ball.
For Tuchel, this usually involves one full-back tucking in and forming a back three with the centre-backs, and the other full-back sitting alongside the number six in a double pivot. The wingers hold the width, while the two eights play high up in the half spaces.
This means Saka will be positionally deployed in a role he’s used to filling at Arsenal. His job will be to stay close to the right touchline, receive the ball high up and create separation from his full-back to create openings for England.
In Tuchel’s system, the onus is on the wingers to provide the offensive spark. While everyone else on the pitch’s main focus in possession is to retain the ball, Saka and the left-winger will be instructed to take on their man, cross the ball and take shots. They are key to England’s offensive patterns of play.
So, Saka will essentially be used in the exact role he rose to prominence in underArteta. He’ll provide England with neat combination play, aggressive carries up the pitch and plenty of shot creation for his teammates. If England reach the latter stages, it’ll likely be because of what Saka has been able to produce in the final third.
Bukayo Saka has been better than his output suggests this season
There will be some concerns around Saka ahead of the World Cup, with many likely feeling he will be coming into the tournament cold and off the back of a below-par season.
However, until sustaining a hip injury in a warm-up in January, Saka was largely playing as well as he ever has, but was merely enduring a cold finishing streak. His underlying numbers (both expected goals and expected assists) were at similar levels to previous years, but the ball just wasn’t hitting the back of the net, while teammates were wasting chances he created for them.
He quite easily could’ve had a few more goals and assists to his name, which would’ve drastically changed the perception around his season.
That said, his form certainly dropped off before he sustained his latest injury. His decision-making wasn’t at its usual elite level, while he looked as though he’d lost his burst to an extent.
It’s possible that these issues were a symptom of recurring injury problems, and there’s hope that he can rediscover his best form in the run-in and at the World Cup, particularly after his promising returning cameo against Newcastle on Saturday.
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