Arsenal got the three points at Nottingham Forest. That much is clean, simple, and ultimately all that will matter in the table. But the mood around Bukayo Saka is no longer quite so straightforward, because Carlton Cole has decided to say out loud what plenty of people have been thinking: the winger looks "a little bit of a passenger at the minute".
That is a sharp thing to say about a player who opened the campaign with three goals in the opening games and remains one of the most important figures in Mikel Arteta’s side. Yet Cole did not hedge. On The Dressing Room Podcast, he said he wants Saka to come good, but added that his position is being questioned right now. In other words, this is not a gentle warning. It is a public challenge.
Why the criticism matters now
The timing is what gives this extra bite. Arsenal have no time to indulge in comfort after a narrow 1-0 win away from home, because their attention is already turning to Bayern Munich in the Champions League at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday evening. That is the kind of night that exposes form, confidence and sharpness in the clearest possible terms.
Cole’s broader point is uncomfortable for Arsenal because it reaches beyond one player. He argued that Saka gets grace all the time, and that it is unfair on the other players because every other player gets called off by the gaffer. That is a pointed observation, and one that lands differently when a squad is already searching for a left winger and has not landed several primary targets.
That does not mean Saka suddenly becomes expendable. It does mean the conversation around him has shifted. A player of his quality is always judged against a very high standard, and once the goals dry up even slightly, the noise gets louder very quickly. Cole’s line about being “a little bit of a passenger” is less about one bad afternoon than a wider frustration with what Arsenal are getting from a key attacker right now.
There is still plenty of season left, and Saka has already shown enough to suggest the sharpness will return. But right now, the pressure is real. Arsenal need more than reputation, more than goodwill and more than the memory of those three early goals. They need their star man to start carrying the load again, because nights like Bayern away do not forgive passengers.
