To some at Arsenal, William Saliba wasn’t good enough to play for the club, but he is now proving that thinking wrong in the French Ligue 1.
After joining Nice on loan from Arsenal for the rest of this campaign, the Frenchman has been in fine form.
Nice has had a tough season because of the slow start to the campaign that they made, but this second half is shaping up to be a good one for them, and Saliba is part of the reasons why that is happening.
They beat Lens 1-0 in the league this weekend, and the defender was in fine form as they kept a clean sheet.
He made one block, five clearances and completed 43 passes with an accuracy of 89.6%, according to Mirror Football.
His performance didn’t go unnoticed as French news outlet L’Equipe, cited in the same Mirror report, praised him for his commanding showing.
It said of Saliba’s performance: “He guides and instructs the defence, and gives the impression he’s been there a long time.
“He has just arrived but has already shown he is the boss of the defence.”
Saliba has done well since his return to France, but he would need to maintain that level of performance if he wants to get into the Arsenal team on his return in the summer.
The French league and the English league are two different things.
I believe Saliba is a good player and he will perform well for us when he is given the opportunity.
He just has to increase his concentration and pace to succeed in the premier league with us.
Fofana in Leicester city came from French legue1, he was given chance and has proven himself, Saliba was not given a chance at all, we are only told he wasn’t ready.
Awhy, apparently some people don’t believe that Saliba is good enough to play for Arsenal, yet as you state, on what basis was this assessment made, given the lack of playing opportunities he received?
Fofana, Saliba’s CB partner at St Ettienne was not rated as highly, yet given the opportunity at Leicester City, he is performing well as part of a higher ranked team than Arsenal.
Hmm, conspiracy theory over the boy.
I just can’t help wondering if our great club is losing its ability to identify, nurture and mentor young players. As far back as I can remember, this quality was always part of our DNA, the main reason why we are so highly regarded by the football world.
👍 RFrancis, in the current climate, a period of investment in building a team from young prospects is a valid means for Arsenal to regain its League status.
Unfortunately, like you, I believe Arsenal has lost its mojo in this regard.
Should have changed his name to Willian Saliba, he may have got a chance to play then. Disturbing!
What would help him is if he were Brazilian, in his thirties, and had a long Chelsea career and then was not wanted by them A cert for us then!
😂😂😂 Brilliant, Reggie!
👍 👍 👍
There was me being told that the club had purged itself of these kind of decisions, when AW, gazidis and his three horsemen had left the club – how wrong that observation and belief has turned out.
Once again, question marks around Arteta’s thinking. Look no further than Fofana, then you will know that somethings at Arsenal are not right. To prove something is wrong, look at the Auba contract, the Willian contract, the chances given to a mediocre Nketiah that messed up Laca to a certain extent. The ridiculous parings that don’t work, like Xhaka an Elneny, Willian and anybody, Pepe, Willian and Nketiah. Arteta’s inexperience and naivety is now glaringly obvious. With the players we have Arsenal are a lot better than many teams above us. But, a big but, the problem is still there.
Still haven’t seen the kid play which is probably the biggest mystery of all. Why wasn’t he given a chance and why do we fans know so little about what he can or cannot do. But agree with above comments, speaking Spanish or Portuguese would definitely have helped his chances. This murky decision making really irks me. Something rotten in the state of Denmark.
I wonder what our target for next season would be? This year we have a realistic chance of getting sixth of eight. If Arteta doesn’t get it right by season 3 it will be unlikely for him to land a contract at big team soon after hes out at Gunners. He took the gamble and have to live with it.