Aaron Ramsdale has claimed that William Saliba has been making mistakes at the back for Arsenal this term, but his team-mates have been ‘digging him out’.
The young Frenchman has been soaked up plenty of attention since joining the club from St Etienne in 2019, with many commenting on his treatment by our club since joining. Saliba spent his first year under contract with us on loan with his former side, in a season which was ended early thanks to the Coronavirus.
The centre-back was later claimed to have suffered the tragic loss of his mother, and spent the first half of the 2020-21 season with our second team, before eventually being allowed to complete the term on loan with Nice. After impressing once again in France, it was thought that he could return to vie for a role in the squad, but instead we opted to splash £50 Million on the signing of Ben White, and allow William to spend yet another year back in France, this time with Marseille, and that season couldn’t have gone much better for him.
Saliba played the full 90 minutes of 36 of their 38 league matches, helping them to finish second in the division and earn a place in the Champions League, and his performances even saw him named the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.
He has since returned to north London this term and thrust into the first-team, playing every minute of our eight opening league matches, but while he is reaping plenty of praise for his performances thus far, goalkeeper Ramsdale insists that he is not playing without fault.
“He is a young boy so still makes mistakes, so at the minute it is either Ben (White), myself, Gabriel or Thomas Partey digging him out, and he is digging other people out as well,” Ramsdale claimed.
“That is the main thing at the minute, our mistakes aren’t leading to too many things, and that is the sign of a team with good characters in and around that back five. He has fit in really well,” said the Englishman. “It is a credit to him that he has been put straight into the team. He is a bit of a Rolls-Royce with the way he moves, and he has never seemed phased.”
It is normal for team-mates to cover each other, and natural for players to get caught out from time to time, but it how the team adapts to each situation, and as a unit, our back line has been impressive thus far. Saliba gives us a lot in transition as well as in helping to defend, and he is only going to get better as the knowledge of working with his fellow players grows also.
Patrick
Sounds extremely strange and inaccurate to read that RAMSDALE calls SALIBA, “a boy”!
YES, in football terms I can accept a mere 21 year old being called a boy, but in SALIBAS CASE, as he is definitely a Rolls-Royce of a player, the term “boy” is about as misleading as one can ever imagine.
It kind of goes unnoticed compared others because he has the status he does amongst fans. White has been great defensively with zero credit and many calls to be dropped. White/Saliba per 90: Tackles: 2.1/1.6 Interceptions: 0.8/0.5 Fouls: 0.6/0.9 Blocks: 0.4/0.1 Clearances 1.6/3.1 Dirbbled past: 0.6/0.1. Saliba wins dribbled past and clearances, and White wins tackles, interceptions, blocks and fouls given. Obviously different positions but Gabriel has been just as solid but his one major mistake sticks in everyone’s memory.
Saliba wasn’t great for the pen getting sucked in at the start when we didn’t have numbers back forcing Gabriel across and an unconvincing header at the end others were worse or just as bad Xhaka/Gabriel (who probably did the least wrong)/Ramsdale/Partey and even Saka originally.
Arteta would have hated everything about that pen, it was all minor mistakes stacked on top of each other repeatedly nothing atrocious but that’s the level in this league. Had the through ball been better Gabriel/Xhaka wouldn’t have had a chance to make a mistake. Just funny to watch this unfold from the outside, they can all do better individually and especially as a collective but nobody has been that much worse than others to be singled out for negativity or praise. If you were singling for praise Saliba is the likely choice all factors considered but it’s so very very close.
I would take more notice of Ramsdale, if he could give actual examples.
Fans, media and pundits haven’t spotted this, so examples are required.
I really do hope that Ramsdale isn’t getting too big for his boots and he should concentrate on his mistakes and how to cut them out.
supposed to be it’s own post
Ramsdale is trying to highlight the fact Saliba hasn’t been that much better than those around him who get grief. He’s not getting big for his boots. He is tempering expectations around Saliba whilst pointing out that the likes of White/Gabriel/Zinchenko/Tierney/Partey/Himself have all been essentially equally important defensively.
I share the same sentiments @ken1945.
Ramsdale needs to say less about teammates if he’ll be expressing himself the way he’s done about Saliba.
I’m also a little bit dumbfounded about what Ramsdale has just said about Saliba. “Making mistakes”? SMH.
True hey
Exactly i think he should pay attention to his mistakes and don’t let my team down
It kind of goes unnoticed compared others because he has the status he does amongst fans. White has been great defensively with zero credit and many calls to be dropped. White/Saliba per 90: Tackles: 2.1/1.6 Interceptions: 0.8/0.5 Fouls: 0.6/0.9 Blocks: 0.4/0.1 Clearances 1.6/3.1 Dirbbled past: 0.6/0.1. Saliba wins dribbled past and clearances, and White wins tackles, interceptions, blocks and fouls given. Obviously different positions but Gabriel has been just as solid but his one major mistake sticks in everyone’s memory.
Saliba wasn’t great for the pen getting sucked in at the start when we didn’t have numbers back forcing Gabriel across and an unconvincing header at the end others were worse or just as bad Xhaka/Gabriel (who probably did the least wrong)/Ramsdale/Partey and even Saka originally.
Arteta would have hated everything about that pen, it was all minor mistakes stacked on top of each other repeatedly nothing atrocious but that’s the level in this league. Had the through ball been better Gabriel/Xhaka wouldn’t have had a chance to make a mistake. Just funny to watch this unfold from the outside, they can all do better individually and especially as a collective but nobody has been that much worse than others to be singled out for negativity or praise. If you were singling for praise Saliba is the likely choice all factors considered but it’s so very very close.
(not meant to be a reply to jon above.)