Ferdinand singles out ‘unplayable’ Arsenal star vs Chelsea as one team are ruled out of title race
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has claimed Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is “unplayable” after the Gunners’ 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Sunday.
The Blues took the lead despite being down to ten men early into the second half when Trevoh Chalobah headed in a corner to open the scoring.
Arsenal equalised with over half an hour still to play as Mikel Merino converted a wonderful Saka cross with his head to get the Gunners back onto level terms.
And Ferdinand was waxing lyrical about Saka after watching the winger help Mikel Arteta’s side earn a point from their clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Ferdinand said of Saka on his YouTube channel: “When he’s on it he looks unplayable.
“He’s got that strength like Mohamed Salah. He’s small in frame and size when you look at him, but do you ever see him get pushed off the ball? Especially when he’s got his back to play and get the ball side-on.
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“You don’t really see people take the ball off him or put him on his arse. He’s a strong little guy.
“I always think of Joleon Lescott when I watch Saka because he says, ‘Listen, he makes the right decision at the right time 99 per cent of the time’… he passes it when he should, he passes it longer when he should, he shoots when he should, he creates a one-vs-one when he should and he crosses when he should.”
Ferdinand added: “He’s very efficient and very effective and it’s a very nice assist.
“He’s one of those players that if he starts coming into form at the right time of the season, anything could be possible with this Arsenal team.
“I think he’s that important because he’s that impactful.”
On Arsenal getting just a point at Stamford Bridge, Ferdinand continued: “If I went back into my head and how I’d be feeling after the game in the changing room, a game of that magnitude, top-of-the-table clash, Arsenal would have taken a draw before the game.
“If you spoke to Declan Rice and the boys in that dressing room before the game and asked, ‘If you could walk out of Stamford Bridge, regardless of what happens across the 90 minutes, with a point right now, would you take it?’, I think they’d all have said yes.
“So regardless of what’s gone on and, yeah, Chelsea went down to ten men… sometimes it’s much harder playing against ten men as everyone drops behind the ball, there’s no spaces, and funnily enough, Chelsea went 1-0 up with ten men.
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“But I don’t think this affects anything with Arsenal. They haven’t lost, they maintained that, which is great, they’re still on a good streak, they’ve been in relentless form, blistering form, banging goals in.
“They’ve also changed that narrative in the last couple of weeks from being a set-piece, Tony Pulis, Big Sam [Allardyce]-inspired team to being a team that can play, create chances and score goals.”
Frank Leboeuf was not impressed by Saka or Arsenal team-mate Eberechi Eze against Chelsea, he told ESPN: “I think the leaders, and I’m talking about (Bukayo) Saka and (Eberechi) Eze, they were only a shadow of themselves for me today.
“We didn’t really see them do what they had to do and what they normally do. Eze was absolutely invisible up to the point that Arteta substituted him.
“And defensively, other than Declan Rice, who is always is the right guy in the right place, the others not so much.”
Despite the positive result, Leboeuf is ruling Chelsea out of the title race, he added: “They (Arsenal) are still the big favourites but they will have to prove it. They lost four points against Sunderland and Chelsea.
“Manchester City are back, Chelsea are still there and we’ll have the winter period, which will start very soon, so let’s see. That period is always crucial and if you miss the curve, you can be on the final line in danger. But I think they should win the title.
“Chelsea is getting more mature but they are not ready to win the title. And we don’t know about Man City because they can still be inconsistent, so I think Arsenal are still the favourite, but I like the fact that we can still have a race and its not given up already after that game.
“Ten against 11, Arsenal should have got the three points and been seven aead of the others but it’s nice for the Premier League.”
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