William Saliba has missed Arsenal’s last few matches and his absence has been felt around the Emirates.
The Frenchman is a solid defender who makes the team much better when he is in it.
In his absence, Rob Holding has played in the last few games and it is clear to see the difference in the quality they have.
Gabriel Magalhaes has stayed fit, but he formed a superb partnership with Saliba and seems to suffer now the Frenchman is not playing.
Chris Sutton was rating the players of Manchester City and Arsenal ahead of their crunch match in the Premier League today and noted the difference in Gabriel’s game when Saliba does not play.
He writes in The Daily Mail:
“Gabriel has been superb next to Saliba. Their partnership has been pivotal to Arsenal’s title push. Gabriel is still a rock, but he’s less solid when he’s not got his pal by his side.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Saliba has been a big influence in our squad since he began playing at the beginning of this season.
The defender has been an amazing signing and we believe he has what it takes to lead us to trophies.
If he had been in the team in the last three games, we may have converted at least one of those draws into a win.
Mikel Arteta in positive mood ahead of Man City visit – “If you want to be champions, you have to win those matches. It’s as simple as that.”
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I read Suttons ratings and could not believe he gave De Bruyne ONLY an 8.5. He awarded Odegaard 9, by contrast. I reckon KDB deserves a10 and MO that same 9.
Collectively we made 90.5 and City less with 89.5., which includes Holding with a 6. And Laporte got 6 too.
It just proves what I have always said, that individuals awarding ratings are meaningless and are entirely subjective anyway.
Usually I ignore player ratings in papers, as I do with Dan Smiths on here, but this one caught my eye and I raised both eyebrows!!
Errr @jon
Player ratings on JA are done by my cousin Peter Doherty. Not Dan…
To suggest that Saliba and Gabriel have formed a “superb” pairing is to grossly overstate their performances both as individuals and collectively.The same applies to Ramsdale who has blown hot and cold and who simply cannot take any risks against City tonight.When it comes to praising a defender with justification, Ben White has been our outstanding defender this season as far as I am concerned.