William Saliba has been sensational for Arsenal so far in the Premier League campaign. His defensive excellence was met by his attacking capabilities as he scored his first goals for the Gunners with a wonder strike against Bournemouth and a precise header against Brentford.
The Frenchman has bought a sense of calmness and assertiveness to Mikel Arteta’s defence which was evidently lacking last season. More interestingly, he has also added speed to the backline, which is also crucial to playing a high line.
However, the 21-year-old had his first difficult performance of the season against Leeds United on Sunday. But, his errors were not costly due to the impact of his centre-back partner Gabriel Magalhaes, which was also a response to William Gallas’ damning comments last month.
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Despite the high amount of plaudits Saliba has received in the early weeks of the season, former Arsenal captain William Gallas has picked out a 'problem' surrounding the Frenchman that the Gunners must address.
"William Saliba has the same style as Rio Ferdinand," Gallas told Genting Casino. "When you see Saliba and how he plays, and when you compare with Rio when he was young, I think they are similar.
"But it's always the same problem. Who is going to be next to you to learn? He's still young, and at this age, you need to learn, and you need to have the right players next to you."
Saliba has been playing alongside Gabriel Magalhaes in the heart of the defence for every Premier League game so far this season. The pair have created a strong partnership, which has helped the Gunners sit at the top of the table after seven games. However, Gallas maintains that Arsenal need more experience in the backline.
"That's why I said it's very important when you play centre-back. You need to have experienced players you can learn from." Gallas said.
"At the moment, Saliba doesn't have anyone. When I talk about experienced players, I'm talking about top-class defenders. That's why I'm a little bit worried for him. If he wants to go to another level, he needs to be next to top-class defenders. If we speak about John Terry, who was next to him? Marcel Desailly. Rio Ferdinand? He was next to Vidic, or I'm not sure who before that."
These comments by Gallas were certainly a dig at Gabriel, but the Brazilian responded with his excellent performance against Leeds on Sunday. Saliba had a tough afternoon which was highlighted when he conceded a penalty in the second half, as a lack of concentration saw him handle the ball in the penalty area.
Thankfully for the Gunners, Patrick Bamford missed the resulting penalty, and Arsenal were able to regroup. Gabriel took control of the defence, and that was shown in his impressive statistics after the match.
The Brazillian won 100% of his aerial duels. He had also won eight duels and made four clearances and blocks. His strong defensive work was matched on the ball, as he had a 90% pass accuracy and 80 touches.
His dominant performance on a tough away ground showed that he took the role of leading the defence and helping his young partner in Saliba through the match. His display went against the worries Gallas had expressed about Saliba.READ NEXT:
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