Mikel Arteta maintained that William Saliba wasn’t ready for first-team action, and the Frenchman may have proved him right after his horrific first start for Nice, as reported by the Sun.
The Gunners allowed the teenage defender to join the French side just a few days ago as he asked to leave so that he can see more action.
He was thrown into Nice’s first game since signing him in their match against Brest.
One of the reasons speculated to be why he hasn’t played for Arsenal is his tendency to rush into tackles and that is probably true.
At the start of the game, the defender was put under pressure and he earned a yellow card for a foul he committed after he had made a heavy touch on the ball.
His team would go on to concede twice before the halftime break.
He wasn’t at fault for both goals, but he would have wished that they never got in with him at the back.
He played the whole game, and it ended in a 2-0 loss for Nice who only recently fired Patrick Vieira for a run of poor results.
Arteta will feel justified somewhat and hope that Saliba will get better before returning to Arsenal.
You obviously didn’t watch the match. I did and he actually had quite a good game. The Sun report is total biased to cause controversy as usual. Read some of the other reports!
And how many horror shows have proven EPLers
Luiz and Mustafi had in an Arsenal shirt? To many
to count by my rudimentary math but MA continues
to trot both players out in front of young Saliba.
The Frenchmen is obviously not ready to be a
consistent EPL contributor but not giving him
a run out in domestic cup and EL group stage
games was an absolute head scratcher @ best by
MA.
Wish him all the best in Nice!!
👍
I watched the match; the Sun’s report is complete BS. He was not at fault for any of the goals and showed composure and quality – especially when considering he would have had very little time with his new team-mates.
whtched the game chinese commentary LOL,1st game in yonks looks the part passing very good;we all know hes a lot better than deadwood at club luis mustafi chambers wresler holding mari .,.,
Surprised anyone takes The Sun seriously.
I watched the first half & Saliba was good on the ball and good passing range. However, being French football it wasn’t very physical and he didn’t have to deal with high balls. Would have preferred him to be loaned out in this country. Jury still out but not by any means a horrific debut.
I love The Sun and have it in the house all the time. At least when the shops have runout of toilet paper!
Ur a joke.Pablo Mari is very good in recent performances.I even think he’s ad good as Gabriel
mari is average. he’ll be found out quickly. remember i said this. Gabriel is far far better.
Completely misleading headline, he actually had a good game. Have blocked this rag from my browser.
What a harsh and disappointing headline. And what’s more, apparently untrue if one invests a bit more time than skimming an article from The Sun.
We all should be hoping Saliba is successful at Nice and comes back ready to contribute. Not trying to score petty points to support or throw daggers at Arteta.
A bit unfair. I find The Sun to be very reliable with facts. Admittedly those facts only extend to getting the date and the papers name correct but thats a start surely!
And it makes wonderful toilet paper, if you don’t mind your bum being wiped with lies!
The Sun actually provide the worst football news on earth
Bit tough on the old bum, jon!
Too right Ozzie , But then I have always been a tough old bum!
Didn’t see the match, but it’s his first match at this level in how long? It tends to happen when someone sits you on a shelf for a prolonged period. How many of the goals was he at fault for?
Actually his getting a yellow card for rashness fits right in with us; maybe he’s more ready than we thought?
A bit soon to judge whether his loan was a good move or not after 1 match. Let the kid get some games under his belt before making any judgements first, to be fair.
Didn’t watch the match and dont get the article when his personal stats from the game, including passing, interseptions and tackles was excellent. He wasn’t at fault for any of the goals let in, so a bit harsh.
The manager’s report at the end of the game was very complimentary to Saliba and, as said above by others, the stats are very good reading for the player in his first game back.
It certainly wasn’t the way other sites reported his first game back, perhaps they had someone watching the game?
The trouble with relying on newspapers for writing an article, is that they all seem to have an agenda to follow.
Good luck to Saliba, it seems that MA has big plans for you next season – let’s hope the situation you found yourself in at the club, hasn’t put you off.
Agenda Ken ? The newspapers ? Oh surely not ! You’ll be telling me next that sometimes they print lies! Shock, horror!
We must remember that it is Murdoch who owns this rag Jon… the same group who owns Fox news, I believe.
Can’t believe what’s happening over the pond – puts the rest of the world’s problem, excluding covid 19, in the shade!!!
jon and ken, a newspaper owned by a man, who gave up his country of birth to suit his business interests and his family gave up their religion and heritage to pursue money and power.
One of the most dangerous people on the planet, when you analyse his views.
Ken and Ozzie. This shows what happens when we give too much political power to any one person, or in reality one man, as these demagogues are hardly ever female. Murdoch and his partner in crime Trump are indeed two of the most dangerous men on our planet.
In all seriousness, I have long been preaching to everyone I know well enough to speak seriously , that the world would be a far safer and more pleasant place, if all heads of goverment , worldwide, were FEMALE.
I presume Thatcher was an obvious exception to that rule!
By the way, no politics on JustArsenal, thank you lol…
Bigger question is why would they even write this particular article, let alone use this misleading headline…Arteta/Edu + damage control = pathetic
Very harsh on Saliba in his first game. He arrived at the club just a couple days before that game. Yes he got an early booking, but, he wasn’t bad overall. He needs some more game time to regain his form and confidence. For sure, he is a much better talent than a lot of Arsenal current center backs.
Watched it. He was fine. Very impressive on the ball, good positioning, good anticipation. He was a little slow off the mark at times but has the speed to make up ground. Bound to be rusty. However he wasn’t under the kind of pressure he will be in the prem, so, jury’s still out. Rubbish article.
The boy has not player competitve football for half a season and they throw him straight into it?
On Saliba I am uncomfortable with this Arteta decision. It’s made me uneasy.
Not happy that the kid was not even given a chance in the Cups, Europa etc.
👍
He was the highest rated Nice player by L’Equipe…. so can’t be all that bad!
👍
After several months without competitive football, of course he’s a bit rusty and clumsy with the tackling. It’s his first game with the back three and for me, he looked more composed and calmed as the games goes by. He’s better than Holding and Chambers and definitely greater than Luiz. Gabriel, Mari and Saliba are up for the next season. But then again, Arteta could surprised us by going for another raid at Chelsea and get Drinkwater and play him as new center back.
If anyone relies on the Sun for their football reports and info then they know nothing about football. The Sun and Talksport are two media outlets you don’t want to rely on for your football fix.
Here here Marty, haven’t read or listened to either for years.
MARTY To be completely fair to TALK SPORT, the Jim White and Simon Jordan show at 10am Mon-Thur is not like the rest of that downmarket station. It is an oasis in a desert!
It has serious and cerebral debate and Jordan in particular is a highly clued up guy and talks lots of sense and fearlessly too. They are not ALL like the appalling Adrian Durham and the downmarket Alan Brazil show from 6-10am, which IS largely nonsense.
👍 and William Saliba was not a one man team; maybe some of the other 10 players didn’t have a good match?
He wasnt ar fault for the goals,it was a bad back pass to the keeper that he is being blamed for and his manager seemed pretty happy with him.
Patiance,patiance,patiance….
Shameful to ever believe The Sun. Saw the goals let in and neither his fault. Why parrot a newspaper that only wants to destroy us?
Saliba named man of the match for Nice
Just six days into his loan spell at Nice, William Saliba is already showing Arsenal what they are missing.
The France U20 international has taken to his Ligue 1 club with ease, slotting into the heart of their defence and playing two games already for his new side.
On Saturday Saliba’s performance was of such a high standard he was awarded the man of the match award during the 1-1 draw with Metz.