Sterling Urges The Media To Let Saka Develop Without Sensationalist Nonsense

Arsenal have had a phenomenal start to the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

With 14 games played, manager Mikel Arteta is really getting what he wants from the players and they are sat in first place in the English top flight table, with an incredible 12 wins and one draw (only one defeat so far) and although Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side have a slightly better goal difference, Arsenal are a clear five points ahead of them.

With domestic European leagues now paused to enable the first ever winter World Cup out in Qatar to take place, Arsenal fans will be hoping that our players come back in good spirits, good form and most importantly, fit, after their efforts in those very unusual temperatures so we can hit the ground running once again when proper football returns in late December on Boxing Day (West Ham United at The Emirates Stadium).

There are a good few reasons for fans of the Gunners to be watching the action out in Qatar, and one of those is in watching Bukayo Saka perform on the biggest stage in football as he continues his own development in the game and for those who like a flutter, betting on him to have more success could be a virtual real money casino given his form so far.

It was a good start from the versatile 21 year old as he continued his club form this year by bagging himself a brace in England's Group B opener against Iran. Gareth Southgate's side may not have had the best of times recently, particularly the dull and boring draw against the United States, but with three goals and one assist in the qualification campaign, Saka may well go one better in the competition proper - depending on how far we actually progress.

Speaking after the 6-2 victory over Iran, Saka himself said on the BBC.

"I feel like I am in a good place. I have the support from the fans. I really feel the love from the fans, the staff, my team-mates. That's all I need. I feel good and I'm ready to give 100%. I'll continue to do that every time I put the shirt on."

Pundits more than agreed, and former England and Manchester City defender Micah Richards felt that Saka had benefitted from his experiences at the 2020 European Championships and he had used that to better his mentality.

"He started the season brilliantly for Arsenal and he's brought it for the England squad as well. To have gone through that adversity and to bring it around and perform like this. It shows you what sort of player and character he really is."

Whilst there was less to be said about his performance in the United States game, England were poor so it certainly was not all on him, but Raheem Sterling has recently come out in support of his team mate urging fans and the media in particular, to leave players like him alone so they can reach their true potential.

"I think it's brilliant to see players playing well for their clubs bring that to the international stage and biggest stage in football. I want them to be left alone so they can be focused and not have any added pressure on them. It's a different kind of pressure to what I was under. In tournaments like this, no matter how many caps you have got, the less you hear your name the better. Every player knows if they are playing well, bad or not to your standards. The less we put them under the microscope, the better they'll do. It's virtually impossible not to talk about them given how well they are playing but I think the less we go on about it the better they'll do."

Sterling himself has had plenty of media pressure over the years, often for totally unwarranted things, so we can only hope the media learn a few lessons and let Saka progress as we all think he will in the coming years.