Bukayo Saka says it\u2019s in his nature to laugh at players who attempt to \u201csmash\u201d him, as long as he manages to avoid the contact.<\/strong><\/p>\nArsenal\u2019s in-form winger is one of the most fouled players in the Premier League, with manager Mikel Arteta previously calling for protection for Saka from referees.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old, who has chalked up 16 goals and 12 assists in all competitions this season, is in a rich vein of form for the Gunners, scoring seven goals in his five Premier League games. His uptick has coincided a goal glut for Arteta\u2019s side, propelling them firmly back into the title race alongside Liverpool and Manchester City.<\/p>\n
Speaking to\u00a0beIN SPORTS<\/em>, Saka spoke of his ability to stay calm in the face of persistent fouling, adding that he now understands why defenders look to target him after deciding to confront them on field.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I go on the pitch I\u2019m there to have fun and to enjoy,\u201d he said. \u201cI would say I learned a lot over the last few seasons, when I started to get more and more tackles and defenders have started to enjoy more and more kicking me, I spoke to a few defenders and now I understand it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for me, when I see a defender trying to smash me, as long as he doesn\u2019t get me, I\u2019m laughing or I\u2019m smiling because I take it as a compliment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think a defender would be calling for help or a defender would want to smash me if he didn\u2019t see me as a threat. So, for me, if he tries to smash me and I get away with it, I just laugh and just get on with the game, because I guess it\u2019s part of it.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019m not going to say names because I feel like those conversations should stay between me and them, but I\u2019ve had a few conversations with opposition, even sometimes the players here, when I ask, \u2018why are you guys like this? Why do you just want to smash players?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just explain to me so I understand and once I understand it\u2019s easy for me to to get on with it more. As long as no one tackles me really, really badly [it\u2019s okay] because obviously I don\u2019t want to be injured or I don\u2019t want to be playing through pain, I don\u2019t think anyone wants that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saka added that defenders are simply trying to do their job, which in turn has made him focus on keeping his composure and concentration at all times.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, the defender is only trying to do his job and protect his goal, and I\u2019m only trying to do my job and get towards his goal. So we\u2019re all just trying to do our best for the team. I just try and keep my temper, because I know when I do lose my head, I don\u2019t play well. I hope I haven\u2019t given a secret to the opposition there.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bukayo Saka says it\u2019s in his nature to laugh at players who attempt to \u201csmash\u201d him, as long as he manages to avoid the contact. Arsenal\u2019s in-form winger is one of the most fouled players in the Premier League, with manager Mikel Arteta previously calling for protection for Saka from referees. The 22-year-old, who has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n
Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bukayo Saka says it\u2019s in his nature to laugh at players who attempt to \u201csmash\u201d him, as long as he manages to avoid the contact. Arsenal\u2019s in-form winger is one of the most fouled players in the Premier League, with manager Mikel Arteta previously calling for protection for Saka from referees. The 22-year-old, who has […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-27T17:05:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"headline\":\"Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-27T17:05:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":526,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013 - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-27T17:05:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27\\\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/author\\\/ghanamma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013 - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013 - Ghanamma.com","og_description":"Bukayo Saka says it\u2019s in his nature to laugh at players who attempt to \u201csmash\u201d him, as long as he manages to avoid the contact. Arsenal\u2019s in-form winger is one of the most fouled players in the Premier League, with manager Mikel Arteta previously calling for protection for Saka from referees. The 22-year-old, who has […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/","og_site_name":"Ghanamma.com","article_published_time":"2024-02-27T17:05:18+00:00","author":"Ghana News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"headline":"Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013","datePublished":"2024-02-27T17:05:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/"},"wordCount":526,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/","name":"Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013 - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2024-02-27T17:05:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/27\/bukayo-saka-reveals-coping-mechanism-when-players-try-to-smash-him\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bukayo Saka reveals coping mechanism when players try to \u2018smash\u2019 him \u2013"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/author\/ghanamma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}