Mikel Arteta gave serious goalscoring challenge to Bukayo Saka as Arsenal boss demands superstar level output

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has given a strong message to his top player, Bukayo Saka. Arteta wants his star winger to become much more effective in the front position so as to score as many goals as possible.

​Even though Saka has started the season very well and played great football, his manager believes he can do even more. Arteta says Saka needs to stop thinking about simple goals, like reaching a small number of goals for the whole season. Instead, he wants Saka to enter every single match with the hunger to score many goals, looking forward to seeing him score not less than 2 goals at a pitch.

Pursuing the next Level 

Right now, Bukayo Saka is the top goalscorer in the Arsenal club. He has scored three goals in the team’s first six Premier League matches of the season. That sounds like a good start, but his manager, Mikel Arteta, believes the young star can do much better and score far more goals than he is currently doing.

According to reports reaching us at Sporttori ​Saka is now 25 years old and is entering the best years of his career. A few years ago, during his brilliant 2023-24 season, he scored 20 goals in total across all competitions for Arsenal. That was a great achievement, but Arteta wants him to forget about past records and stop setting long-term goals for the whole season. Instead of aiming for a fixed total, like 15 or 20 goals for the year, Arteta wants Saka to focus on scoring goals in every single game he plays.

​This demand comes at a time when the England winger has missed some very big scoring opportunities. We noticed that in the past few weeks, Saka has failed to convert several clear chances that he normally scores easily.

​For example, last Saturday against Leeds United, Saka had a huge late one-on-one chance against goalkeeper James Trafford, but he failed to score the goal. That miss added to a growing list of recent mistakes in front of goal, including missed opportunities in earlier matches against Sunderland and against Italian side Napoli in the Champions League.

Currently, ​Arteta knows how talented Saka is, which is why he is pushing him so hard. The manager believes that if Saka stays focused, stays hungry, and stops overthinking his season target, he will turn those missed chances into goals. By taking every match step by step and trying to score many goals every time he plays, Saka can reach a whole new level of performance and help Arsenal win many more games.

Lifting the bars 

When reporters asked if Bukayo Saka should be aiming to reach his old record of 20 goals again this season, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta completely rejected the idea. The Spanish coach explained that setting a seasonal goal like 20 goals is the wrong approach. Instead, he presented a much more serious and hungry mindset that he wants his star forward to follow every time he steps onto the pitch.

The manager wants Saka to go into every match with the mental focus of a player who wants to score multiple goals right now. According to Arteta, if a player goes out with that mindset, they might end up scoring one goal, or they might score two, but the key is that they never stop trying. Arteta strongly believes that Saka has the special talent and natural skill needed to score goals in many different ways.

​The Arsenal boss also warned that calculating long-term goal numbers over an entire season actually hurts an attacker’s sharpness and drive. When players set a long-term total for the year, they start doing math in their heads. For example, a player might think, “It is only October right now, and I still have eight months left to score 17 more goals to reach my target.”

​Arteta believes that kind of thinking is very dangerous for a forward. It makes a player feel like they have plenty of time, which removes the urgency to score immediately. That relaxed mindset stops players from becoming world-class goalscorers. Arteta insists that top attackers must treat every single game like a fresh opportunity to score as many goals as possible. By hunting for goals in every single match rather than counting down the months, Saka can raise his game to an even higher level and become far more dangerous in front of goal.

What’s Poacher’s instinct 

To help Bukayo Saka score many more goals, Arsenal have deliberately changed their styles. The team has been working so hard to get Saka out of wide positions and into central areas closer to the goal and the six-yard box. This smart style change is already working very well. It has helped Saka score close-range goals in matches against Coventry and Aston Villa, and it also helped him score two easy tap-ins for England against Croatia during the international break.

​Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta explained why this positional change is so important for the player’s growth. He noted that this is exactly where they need to get him on the pitch. Arteta added that if Saka misses a chance from there, it does not matter because the more total chances the team creates around the box, the higher the chance that he will score. Saka has been getting into great positions, taking more shots, and scoring quick one-touch finishes and tap-ins.

​Arteta believes this new style of play makes his star winger much harder for opposing defenders to track and defend against. By moving into different central areas, Saka becomes a lot less predictable. Arteta pointed out that this kind of unpredictable movement is exactly what they need from him, otherwise opposing teams will easily figure out how to stop him.

Keeping the Volume on

Despite the recent missed chances in front of goal, manager Mikel Arteta remains completely confident in Bukayo Saka’s growth and progress. Right now, the main focus for Arsenal is to make sure Saka keeps getting this same high volume of scoring chances in all their upcoming matches.

​Arteta explained that Saka is doing very well overall and could easily have scored another four or five goals by now with the chances he has had.

The manager strongly believes that if Saka keeps getting into those same scoring positions, the goals will naturally come.

​Arteta concluded by explaining how important it is for Saka to change his mindset. Instead of thinking about scoring a fixed total of goals for the whole year, Saka needs to train his mind to think about scoring goals in every single game. Arteta insists that if Saka makes this mental shift, he will naturally get into great positions near the goal and end up scoring many more goals for the team.