Bukayo Saka sat down in front of the media at San Siro ground of Inter Milan this week to talk about captainship, leadership, and inspirations.
On being captain at Arsenal
It’s been a big honour to put the captain’s armband on. Every time, I don’t take it for granted, and my role in the team has improved a lot this year. I have to step up for my team and be more of a leader. But I’m embracing it, I’m doing my best and that’s all I can do really.
On leadership role
No, I think I would if I needed to, if I felt I needed to, but I think it’s important not to overreact as well. Obviously, there’s a lot of noise around the club, and you know, we lost two games and drew another one, but at the same time, I think it’s important to stay calm, and doing all these things can at the same time create more calm, but they can also create a bit more panic and chaos. I don’t think we need that right now, so I’m just doing my best to help the team in every way I can, and if I need to do that, I’ll do that for sure.
On which players influenced him and what type of captain he is
First of all, I’m not the captain. Martin is still the captain. I’m just part of the leadership group and I wear the captain’s armband when he’s not around and he’s back now, which is going to be a big boost for us. But yeah, when I do have the armband on me, I’d say I’m more of a lead-by-example kind of guy, but at the same time, there’s a responsibility to talk sometimes and in the team talks, I have to be the one to speak up as well. I do my part on that as well.
On the difference between performances in the Champions League and Premier League
I feel like in the Champions League we’ve been really good this season. We have a very good record and we’re unbeaten, and we’re going to look to keep that record tomorrow night, and that’s all we can really do.
On whether he tells Mikel Arteta that he always wants to play
Pretty much, yeah! I think I just love football. I live for football and when I go home I watch a lot of football too and it’s just always on my mind. Like I said, I always take care of my body so that I can be available for each and every game, so if I’m going to travel there and I’m available to play, I want to play. That’s my mindset.
On players he looks up to
On how people look at him and what he looks at from his captains
If I start with Martin, obviously I’ve seen him come in when he wasn’t captain and now he is, so I’ve seen him progress and evolve in that role and it’s been really impressive. I’ve been watching and learning at times. He’s made a big step at that. Harry Kane is also a top captain as well. He leads by example a lot on the pitch. He’s always available, always training, always one of the best in training as well, so I try to learn from them both and do what I can do best.
Perspective-wise of how people see me, I think it’s best to ask other people if I’m honest, but I just feel like a lot of teammates know that I don’t really speak too much but when I speak most of the time I’m going to say something good so most of the time they’ll listen.
On how he has improved from the penalty miss against Italy three years ago
I’d say it was a very difficult moment for me. I didn’t really know how to come out of it, I was just taking it day by day and had a lot of support from family, friends and everyone at the club and the national team. That helped me a lot and then, at the same time, I had a conversation with myself and said I can either go into a shell and hide and not express myself anymore, or I can do the opposite, which is work even harder and become a better player in every other aspect.
If I do get an opportunity to take a penalty again, I’m going to be the first one grabbing the ball and that’s what I did. Everyone saw what happened when I did score that first penalty and since then I’ve taken many more and scored most of them, so it was a period in my life where I had a choice and I think I made the right choice.
On Edu’s departure
Yeah, so we didn’t know, but we all know what Edu’s done for the club, and he’s a top person, so first of all, I just want to wish him all the best. Obviously, we all know what he’s done for the football club. He’s been involved in the transformation and getting us back to performing at the highest stage, so we’re grateful for him and wish him all the best.
•Culled from Arsenal.com
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