Bukayo Saka says toughest injury setback gave him more balanced outlook on life
However, the enforced time away from football's 'conveyor belt' has helped him see the bigger picture, as he prepares to round off the season by playing his first England match since Thomas Tuchel took charge against Senegal on Tuesday night.
'I got to spend more time with my family and got to do more of the little things around the house that I wouldn't have even paid attention to when I was playing,' Saka said.
'On that note it was nice and I've come back with a bit more of a balanced head about football and life, and I'm trying to balance them better. It definitely helped me mentally.'
Saka also had a new arrival to keep him occupied.
'I got the dog while I was still playing but I got injured and he came while I was injured,' he said.
'It was a bit tough at first because he's a puppy and I couldn't really get after him. It was a good experience. It was funny. His name is Tucker.'
Saka said he also spent time reading, including one especially influential book called 'The Power of Now', written by Eckhart Tolle and given to Saka by Arsenal assistant coach Carlos Cuesta.
'(The book is) about not thinking about the past, not thinking about the future. Just being in the moment and always asking yourself 'what's necessary right now?',' he said.
'Sometimes I can think, 'oh, am I going to come back in the best shape?'. Or, in the past, 'what could I have done to prevent injury?'.
'But all that is not necessary. It's only going to bring bad energy and negativity to your body.'
The timing of Saka's injury meant he had to undergo surgery at 5am on Christmas Eve in order to be able to return home in time for Christmas Day.
'It was horrible. It was the day before (Christmas Eve) we had to decide. Normally you get more time to make a decision,' he recalled.
England's Bukayo Saka during a press conference (Mike Egerton/PA)
'But where it was going to be Christmas, the surgeons want to be with their families, so I decided on the spot that we were doing the surgery. Then it was deciding what time and was I going to be there on Christmas Day. Obviously, that was the last thing I wanted.
'So I had to do it at 5am or 6am on Christmas Eve. Credit to the surgeon – he got up early to do it. I was out of the hospital at about 3 or 4pm and home. Christmas Day, I went to my cousin's house but I was in a big brace and had crutches.'
Asked what his Christmas Day was like, Saka said: 'I had to get my presents brought to me. It doesn't sound like the worst thing!
'When everyone got up to go to the dining room, it took me about 10 minutes to get there. Little things like that. It was very painful to get up and make my way there.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
England left battered and booed as Senegal expose the flaws Thomas Tuchel must fix
Managing England, as Thomas Tuchel is fast discovering, is harder than it may seem. A chastening week took a turn for the worse, culminating in the boos that followed his first defeat. It is a moot point whether losing to an accomplished Senegal side is actually a better result than only beating Andorra 1-0 but, a year from the World Cup, England looked anything but potential winners. It was a momentous occasion instead for Senegal: when Cheikh Sabaly scored the injury-time third goal, they celebrated becoming the first African team ever to beat England. They did not merely overcome them. They outclassed them. Outpassed, outrun and outwitted, England encountered opponents who were quicker of foot and mind, cleverer and more coherent. That can't all be attributed to Tuchel, in just the fourth game of his reign, but this was a snapshot of familiar England weaknesses. They lost their way after taking an early lead, lacked control in midfield and looked less than the sum of their parts. They were dismal and dreadful. Rarely a man to keep his emotions under wraps, Tuchel was visibly irritated. His quixotic moves compounded their difficulties. If friendlies offer a chance to experiment, if he needs to get to know his new charges, if there is an element of trial and error, some of the choices that backfired felt odd. Even the most successful arguably illustrated their problems. Dean Henderson was the first goalkeeper to concede in Tuchel's tenure, but a string of saves illustrated that England at least have a fine alternative to Jordan Pickford. His best stops came in the opening quarter of an hour, blocking Nicolas Jackson 's shot with his legs and parrying his Crystal Palace teammate Ismaila Sarr 's header. Yet he was overworked, his defence shambolic at times. Tuchel had argued that fielding an all- Chelsea centre-back pairing would help subdue Jackson. They did not, though the debutant Trevoh Chalobah made several timely interventions. Levi Colwill fared worse, while Habib Diarra surged behind left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly for Senegal's second goal. Yet neither was embarrassed quite as much as the senior citizen in the back four. While Kyle Walker 's evening included a guided deep cross that, somehow, Anthony Gordon steered wide from four yards, he offered evidence his 96th cap should be his last. Senegal's equaliser was an indictment of Walker: as Jackson hooked the ball across the penalty area, he was too slow to react as Sarr stole in to finish. It should scarcely be news that Walker has lost his speed. A booking for a late challenge on El Hadji Malick Diouf was a case in point: Walker would have got their quicker if he still had his pace. Tuchel had seemed to ignore Walker's performances in his final few months before leaving Manchester City when selecting him. Trent Alexander-Arnold, left unused on the bench, may wonder how he was deemed an inferior option. In midfield, meanwhile, Conor Gallagher was particularly poor in possession. England's formation strayed dangerously close to a lumpen 4-4-2, making it easier for Senegal to outmanoeuvre them. The exception came when Harry Kane dropped deep; at times, he came so deep he materialised behind much of the midfield, doing his impression of a quarterback, an east London Andrea Pirlo, looking to release Gordon, who began with energy and intensity but faded. Kane had started his night in familiar terrain and fashion. Tuchel made 10 changes. One name stayed the same: Kane started and marked a fourth cap under Tuchel with a fourth goal in that time. A tap-in was testament to his predatory instincts, even if much of the credit belonged to Eberechi Eze, for winning the ball from Lamine Camara, and Gordon, whose shot was parried into Kane's path. A 107th cap took him past Sir Bobby Charlton; Kane now has as many goals as Charlton and Geoff Hurst combined. But England are yet to get goals from many of their other attacking talents under Tuchel. When Kane went off, the German initially played without a specialist striker; a slight, perhaps, for Ivan Toney, who was confined to a late cameo, as Morgan Rogers and Eze operated in central attacking roles, with neither as an out-and-out centre-forward. One substitute thought he had equalised, Jude Bellingham celebrating what seemed a leveller, only for his volley to be disallowed because Colwill had handled. Another substitute almost brought England level twice. The Nottingham Forest favourite Morgan Gibbs-White was bright and prominent on home soil as Edouard Mendy made two fine saves, denying him and Bukayo Saka. But no sooner had Gibbs-White come on than England were behind, Diarra shooting through Henderson's legs. And another England replacement inadvertently set up their third goal, Curtis Jones losing the ball and Camara, in redemptive fashion, powering away to find Sabaly. After three wins for England came three goals in a loss. Senegal are much the best side they have faced under Tuchel, but they could face far better again next summer. To say this bodes badly is an understatement. The rest of the world's nations are unlikely to be quaking in their boots.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
England player ratings as stalwart's international career crumbles against Senegal
Thomas Tuchel 's winning start as England manager came to a crushing end as Senegal sealed a shock victory to become the first African side to beat the Three Lions. Harry Kane gave the hosts an early lead but were pegged back before half-time, with Ismaila Sarr catching Kyle Walker napping to bring parity after Nicolas Jackson worked tirelessly to keep the ball in play. England failed to pick up the pace after the break and were punished by Habib Diarra as Tuchel's defence was opened up far too easily, with the midfielder slotting through Henderson to send the away end into raptures. Jude Bellingham then had a late equaliser ruled out by referee Stephanie Rappart for handball before England's fate was sealed in stoppage time, with Cheikh Sabaly finishing off a lightning counter to condemn Tuchel to his first defeat in the England dugout. It acted as another dire display from England following Saturday's scraped 1-0 win over Andorra, with the final whistle being met by boos from around the City Ground as Tuchel's players slumped off the pitch. Here are how the England players rated from the 3-1 loss in Nottingham: Dean Henderson, 6 Kept extremely busy between the sticks due to England's sloppy defence and Senegal's fast paced attacking gameplay. He could not keep out the opener by club teammate Ismaila Sarr, and another by Diarra, but he made a total of six saves throughout the game to prevent Senegal from stretching their lead. They were routine saves but showed maturity and Henderson will be strongly considered as Pickford's understudy. Kyle Walker, 3 Messy spacing from Walker throughout the game, often running too narrow. Did not anticipate the attacking threats of Sarr and Jackson and was slow to react, leading Sarr to score. Was also booked for a foul on Diouf on his 96th England cap. Lazy and no concentration for a vastly experienced player. At 35, could now easily be consigned to the scrapheap. Trevoh Chalobah, 6 Some good play from Chalobah and alright at the back on his England debut but not a standout player. There was not much he could do in the lead up to Senegal's first goal, but by dropping too deep and being too slow to catch up with Senegal's counter-attack, he could not defend against the third goal. Levi Colwill, 4 Failed to impress. Shown a yellow card early on and could not get the momentum to stop Senegal's aggressive press. He made a mistake which Jackson was almost able to capitalize on, but he got lucky. A controversial handball in the box lead to England's equalising goal to be disallowed. Myles Lewis-Skelly, 4 A few sloppy passes. Had a lot of duels with Ndaiye, but not all were won. He was then found not to be alive to the long ball over the top which led to Senegal's second goal, an instance where he was far too easily beaten by goalscorer Diarra. Subbed. Conor Gallagher, 6 Performed steadily in midfield, working hard to anchor England's central areas, but was caught out by Senegal's movement at times. He was caught out by Senegal's quick feet in the box, highlighting some defensive vulnerability, though he recovered well on occasion. Subbed. Declan Rice, 5 A relatively quiet and functional performance, without offering much spark. He did the basics, holding his position and recycled possession, but did not impose himself on the game in the way her often does and gave the ball away, which he was lucky the opposition did not capitalise on. A far from exciting display. Subbed. Bukayo Saka, 5 Struggled to stamp his authority on the game and found it difficult to break through Senegal's disciplined shape. He did create a chance, bending the ball towards the bottom left corner, but was fingertipped past the post by Mendy. Not an overly impactful performance on the whole. Subbed. Eberechi Eze 6 One of England's better players on the night. He was full of energy constantly trried to drive forward, unlock Senegal's defence and create chances, demonstrating a willingness to take risks. While his creativity stood out, he was let down by a lack of end product from those around him. Anthony Gordon, 6 Lively start, forcing the save from Mendy that led to the Kane opener. However, he went on to miss an absolute sitter with the score at 1-0, with his impact further fading as proceedings went on. Subbed. Harry Kane, 7 Scored his 73rd England goal, a rebound from Gordon's effort, inside seven minutes. Often dropped deep to good effect, but having been the only player on the pitch to start both tonight and on Saturday against Andorra, his game was curtailed early. Subbed. Substitutes Morgan Gibbs-White, 6 (58') - changed England's tempo and got stuck in, creating some good chances, but was partly to blame for the Diarra goal due to bad positioning. Curtis Jones, 4 (59') - an early shot after coming on, but a defensive mistake saw Senegal score their third. Morgan Rogers, 6 (59') - pounced onto a flick by Eze but unable to fire past Mendy. Jude Bellingham, 6 (71') - unlucky to see his controversially disallowed goal following a Colwill handball. Madueke, 4 (71') - no urgency taking a free-kick deep into stoppage time, which failed to even reach the box and subsequently led to Senegal's third goal. Toney (88') - no time to impact the game once Tuchel finally decided to bring him on.
Scottish Sun
32 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Arsenal ‘approach Rodrygo for transfer but face Premier League competition as star makes TWO demands to stay at Real'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ARSENAL reportedly face competition from Premier League rivals for Rodrygo. The Gunners are targeting an attacking overhaul at the Emirates after finishing second for a third consecutive season. 2 Real Madrid's Rodrygo is a summer target for Arsenal Credit: AP 2 The Brazilian has two demands before negotiations can take place Credit: Getty Mikel Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta are plotting a "big" summer in North London. The club are already attempting to land prolific striker Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig. And Madrid's Brazilian winger Rodrygo, 24, is also on the club's wishlist. According to The Athletic, Rodrygo has "been approached through intermediaries by some Premier League clubs". READ MORE ON ARSENAL clash suspended World Cup qualifier suspended due to medical emergency in stands The forward has been at the Bernabeu since joining in 2019 from Santos. He has scored 68 goals in 267 games for Los Blancos. The outlet claims Rodrygo won't enter negotiations until he has spoken to Madrid and new boss Xabi Alonso over his future. Rodrygo "wants to feel important" if he is to stay as part of Alonso's future project in the Spanish capital. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK The Brazilian has spent much of 2025 watching on from the bench. He also wants to operate more on the left wing, after being deployed on the right side for much of the past two seasons. David Raya reveals Arsenal career changed overnight following two-hour meeting Arsenal are desperate to improve their striking options after mustering 69 goals last season. The tally was 22 less than the 91 they managed in 2022/23. Kai Havertz was the club's highest scorer in the Premier League with just nine goals. As well as Sesko, the Gunners are still pursuing Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres. ARSENAL TRANSFER NEWS LIVE: All the latest rumours from the Emirates But SunSport exclusively revealed last week that Manchester United are currently in pole position to land the Swede star. Nico Williams is also on the Gunners' summer wishlist. The Athletic Bilbao winger racked up 10 goal contributions in 29 LaLiga games last season. Williams wants to become one of the biggest earners at the Emirates should he make a move to the Prem.
