William Saliba (2)

[Phil71]

Sorry but are you guys purposely ignoring the bit where he wins the ball in acres of space could do a simple pass to any of 4 teammates but instead almost runs into one of them then has to scramble out of it?

Yes the scramble was good and composed but should never have been necessary in the first place. Plus the pass at the end wasn’t any good either.

Low standards here christ

It's just the anti-Arteta brigade.

If we had a different manager this French chap would barely get a mention.

Nice 8 games before Saliba:
P8 W2 D2 L4 F10 A12

Nice 8 games with Saliba:
P8 W2 D1 L5 F7 A11

He's hardly a knight in shining armour who's ridden to their defensive rescue. They've barely improved defensively and lost more games.

But he doesn't have to, no one player in a shit team is going to change their fortunes around. What Saliba needs to do is put in good performances, MoTM performances, stand up to wave after wave of attacks against the top teams. Show his mettle basically. Thats EXACTLY what Saliba is doing.

Thanks for confirming his player of the month was won in a shit team. He got nowhere near the nominations for Ligue 1 player of the month.

Stand up to wave after wave of attacks from the top teams? What top teams? So far he's played in a defence that has shipped two goals against Brest, three against Bordeaux and lost five matches.

Look - I'm not disputing that the player might be doing OK, and I hope he does come good, but he's not the defensive colossus that some people are making him out to be. Nowhere near it. It's just another stick that some are using to have a go at Arteta.

[theHotHead]

Sorry but are you guys purposely ignoring the bit where he wins the ball in acres of space could do a simple pass to any of 4 teammates but instead almost runs into one of them then has to scramble out of it?

Yes the scramble was good and composed but should never have been necessary in the first place. Plus the pass at the end wasn’t any good either.

Low standards here christ

It's just the anti-Arteta brigade.

If we had a different manager this French chap would barely get a mention.

Nice 8 games before Saliba:
P8 W2 D2 L4 F10 A12

Nice 8 games with Saliba:
P8 W2 D1 L5 F7 A11

He's hardly a knight in shining armour who's ridden to their defensive rescue. They've barely improved defensively and lost more games.

But he doesn't have to, no one player in a shit team is going to change their fortunes around. What Saliba needs to do is put in good performances, MoTM performances, stand up to wave after wave of attacks against the top teams. Show his mettle basically. Thats EXACTLY what Saliba is doing.

Thanks for confirming his player of the month was won in a shit team. He got nowhere near the nominations for Ligue 1 player of the month.

Stand up to wave after wave of attacks from the top teams? What top teams? So far he's played in a defence that has shipped two goals against Brest and three against Bordeaux.

Look - I'm not disputing that the player might be doing OK, but he's not the defensive colossus that some people are making him out to be. Nowhere near it. It's just another stick that some are using to have a go at Arteta.

Again, he doesn't have to be. The important points are, is he better than what we have and can he add value to the team. For many of us the answer is Yes and Yes.

[Phil71]

Sorry but are you guys purposely ignoring the bit where he wins the ball in acres of space could do a simple pass to any of 4 teammates but instead almost runs into one of them then has to scramble out of it?

Yes the scramble was good and composed but should never have been necessary in the first place. Plus the pass at the end wasn’t any good either.

Low standards here christ

It's just the anti-Arteta brigade.

If we had a different manager this French chap would barely get a mention.

Nice 8 games before Saliba:
P8 W2 D2 L4 F10 A12

Nice 8 games with Saliba:
P8 W2 D1 L5 F7 A11

He's hardly a knight in shining armour who's ridden to their defensive rescue. They've barely improved defensively and lost more games.

But he doesn't have to, no one player in a shit team is going to change their fortunes around. What Saliba needs to do is put in good performances, MoTM performances, stand up to wave after wave of attacks against the top teams. Show his mettle basically. Thats EXACTLY what Saliba is doing.

Thanks for confirming his player of the month was won in a shit team. He got nowhere near the nominations for Ligue 1 player of the month.

Stand up to wave after wave of attacks from the top teams? What top teams? So far he's played in a defence that has shipped two goals against Brest and three against Bordeaux.

Look - I'm not disputing that the player might be doing OK, but he's not the defensive colossus that some people are making him out to be. Nowhere near it. It's just another stick that some are using to have a go at Arteta.

Again, he doesn't have to be. The important points are, is he better than what we have and can he add value to the team. For many of us the answer is Yes and Yes.

How can anyone say he would play better than what he have when you've never seen him play in England?

Simple answer - they can't.

[Ach]

Too many playing the man and not the ball.

It's a loan watch thread, he's still an Arsenal player and we paid a lot of money for him. You should hope he's successful and not pray on his downfall or downplay his qualities when on display.

Yup

Embarrassing how saliba is criticised by some so called fans just to defend a ridiculous decision by Arteta

[starmandb]

Too many playing the man and not the ball.

It's a loan watch thread, he's still an Arsenal player and we paid a lot of money for him. You should hope he's successful and not pray on his downfall or downplay his qualities when on display.

Exactly
But it is being used as another stick to beat Arsenal with
Personally I would have an infinite squad and he would be here helping us but I understand that is not always possible and sometimes they have to go out on loan. Ashley Cole went out
Did him good
Came back and played in the best arsenal team I have ever seen
I ever remember everyone using it as a reason to pile in on Nigel winterburn when we lost at Coventry and Bradford

[theHotHead]

How can anyone say he would play better than what he have when you've never seen him play in England?

Simple answer - they can't.

Because Xhaka has played at least one game for us at CB this season. Are you telling me a player that was deemed not good/fit enough to play for Arsenal, who then goes to France and plays immediately and after a couple of games gets awarded MoTM - wouldn't have been a better option at CB than Xhaka ?????

Just that alone justifies Saliba's inclusion.

Shkodran Mustafi, according to Whoscored.com, has the lowest player rating this season of any player in the Arsenal squad. That alone justifies Saliba's inclusion.

[theHotHead]

Too many playing the man and not the ball.

It's a loan watch thread, he's still an Arsenal player and we paid a lot of money for him. You should hope he's successful and not pray on his downfall or downplay his qualities when on display.

Exactly
But it is being used as another stick to beat Arsenal with
Personally I would have an infinite squad and he would be here helping us but I understand that is not always possible and sometimes they have to go out on loan. Ashley Cole went out
Did him good
Came back and played in the best arsenal team I have ever seen
I ever remember everyone using it as a reason to pile in on Nigel winterburn when we lost at Coventry and Bradford

Nobody is beating Arsenal with anything, at worst you could say people are using it as a stick to beat Arteta with, but, even if you took that line, the criticism is right because Saliba has gone to another team and is performing. So less than it being a stick to beat Arteta with, nobody can argue against it being a valid reason to question Arteta's reasoning. The same goes for the likes of Willian's continued inclusion over others. It has nothing to do with beating Arteta with a stick, its about questioning decisions some of which are downright scandalous.

[starmandb]

Sorry but are you guys purposely ignoring the bit where he wins the ball in acres of space could do a simple pass to any of 4 teammates but instead almost runs into one of them then has to scramble out of it?

Yes the scramble was good and composed but should never have been necessary in the first place. Plus the pass at the end wasn’t any good either.

Low standards here christ

It's just the anti-Arteta brigade.

If we had a different manager this French chap would barely get a mention.

Nice 8 games before Saliba:
P8 W2 D2 L4 F10 A12

Nice 8 games with Saliba:
P8 W2 D1 L5 F7 A11

He's hardly a knight in shining armour who's ridden to their defensive rescue. They've barely improved defensively and lost more games.

But he doesn't have to, no one player in a shit team is going to change their fortunes around. What Saliba needs to do is put in good performances, MoTM performances, stand up to wave after wave of attacks against the top teams. Show his mettle basically. Thats EXACTLY what Saliba is doing.

Thanks for confirming his player of the month was won in a shit team. He got nowhere near the nominations for Ligue 1 player of the month.

Stand up to wave after wave of attacks from the top teams? What top teams? So far he's played in a defence that has shipped two goals against Brest and three against Bordeaux.

Look - I'm not disputing that the player might be doing OK, but he's not the defensive colossus that some people are making him out to be. Nowhere near it. It's just another stick that some are using to have a go at Arteta.

Again, he doesn't have to be. The important points are, is he better than what we have and can he add value to the team. For many of us the answer is Yes and Yes.

I agree
It seems folly to under strengthen your own squad by sending someone on loan hence unable to be available but at the risk of being boring Holding was a better player than he was in January

[Phil71]

Sorry but are you guys purposely ignoring the bit where he wins the ball in acres of space could do a simple pass to any of 4 teammates but instead almost runs into one of them then has to scramble out of it?

Yes the scramble was good and composed but should never have been necessary in the first place. Plus the pass at the end wasn’t any good either.

Low standards here christ

It's just the anti-Arteta brigade.

If we had a different manager this French chap would barely get a mention.

Nice 8 games before Saliba:
P8 W2 D2 L4 F10 A12

Nice 8 games with Saliba:
P8 W2 D1 L5 F7 A11

He's hardly a knight in shining armour who's ridden to their defensive rescue. They've barely improved defensively and lost more games.

But he doesn't have to, no one player in a shit team is going to change their fortunes around. What Saliba needs to do is put in good performances, MoTM performances, stand up to wave after wave of attacks against the top teams. Show his mettle basically. Thats EXACTLY what Saliba is doing.

Thanks for confirming his player of the month was won in a shit team. He got nowhere near the nominations for Ligue 1 player of the month.

Stand up to wave after wave of attacks from the top teams? What top teams? So far he's played in a defence that has shipped two goals against Brest and three against Bordeaux.

Look - I'm not disputing that the player might be doing OK, but he's not the defensive colossus that some people are making him out to be. Nowhere near it. It's just another stick that some are using to have a go at Arteta.

Again, he doesn't have to be. The important points are, is he better than what we have and can he add value to the team. For many of us the answer is Yes and Yes.

I agree
It seems folly to under strengthen your own squad by sending someone on loan hence unable to be available but at the risk of being boring Holding was a better player than he was in January

None of us know the reasons for sending him out on loan.

[Power n Glory]

Too many playing the man and not the ball.

It's a loan watch thread, he's still an Arsenal player and we paid a lot of money for him. You should hope he's successful and not pray on his downfall or downplay his qualities when on display.

Exactly
But it is being used as another stick to beat Arsenal with
Personally I would have an infinite squad and he would be here helping us but I understand that is not always possible and sometimes they have to go out on loan. Ashley Cole went out
Did him good
Came back and played in the best arsenal team I have ever seen
I ever remember everyone using it as a reason to pile in on Nigel winterburn when we lost at Coventry and Bradford

As HH says, it's not directed at Arsenal, it's criticism of Arteta's decision to send him out on loan and claims that he wasn’t ready for first team football. You've seen the points made and they are valid. Why he wasn’t playing was a mystery for months and we've heard Arteta's side and now we've heard Saliba's side and fans have a chance to see him in action and weigh it up. When a useless rag of a paper put out a negative review of his Nice debut, it didn't take long for Santi to put the boot in without watching the game. It's working both ways where posters are giving the player a kicking and if he were having a poor season, you'd see more of it. Zenith has been keeping tabs on the player at least and it's helpful stuff. It's good to see he's playing well but I can't help but think why he was sent out on loan.

Say what you want about Ligue 1 football, but without question, Saliba could have played the Europa League and some domestic cup games. When you come to that conclusion, you have to wonder what Arteta was seeing when he played and from Saliba's account, he wasn't given a chance. It doesn't look like things were communicated well and he may have left on bad terms which makes me wonder about his future playing here which would be a real shame and why I wouldn't compare it to Cole's loan.

The Arteta criticism can be OTT but it's hard to ignore. It's a theme across a lot of threads. Just look at Willian, Luiz and Martinelli. It's hard to just look at this in isolation and not connect this with Luiz's contract, Willian and Martinelli's playing time. It's a bit of muddle when it comes to communication from the club. Surely we'd prioritise our youth and players we've invested a lot of money in over past their prime ex- Chelsea players?

[Zenith]

Saliba is having a poor game so far. At fault for the second goal by playing Kouyaté on-side when he should have kept the back line in tact.

His partner Todibo has been even worse. Was unable to deal with a routine cross Metz's second. Better positioning would've allowed him to clear the ball with ease.

Playing alongside an inferior, equally inexperienced CB isn't helping his case. Too much chaos and confusion. Feel it'd have been better for his development if he got to play alongside a more experienced and competent CB.

[Zenith]

Gave the ball away cheaply which lead to Rennes' equaliser; a fine long-distance strike by Terrier. Saliba had been okay up until that point but going by his reaction you could tell he was frustrated with himself.

Stream - http://liveonscore.tv/soccer-streams/li ... treams.net

[Zenith]

He's finished the game strongly putting in some important blocks. Big 3 points for Nice.

[Santi]

Gave the ball away cheaply which lead to Rennes' equaliser; a fine long-distance strike by Terrier. Saliba had been okay up until that point but going by his reaction you could tell he was frustrated with himself.

Stream - http://liveonscore.tv/soccer-streams/li ... treams.net

So, form so far suggests he is a good prospect with mistakes in his locker. Looks like Mikel was right and better he learn away from the pressure cooker that is Arsenal FC.

Time will only tell but it's good for him to get games either way, doesn't mean there isn't also some issue between Arteta and Saliba but people talk as if prime Cannavaro was sitting in our reserves.

[Phil71]

Gave the ball away cheaply which lead to Rennes' equaliser; a fine long-distance strike by Terrier. Saliba had been okay up until that point but going by his reaction you could tell he was frustrated with himself.

Stream - http://liveonscore.tv/soccer-streams/li ... treams.net

So, form so far suggests he is a good prospect with mistakes in his locker. Looks like Mikel was right and better he learn away from the pressure cooker that is Arsenal FC.

Time will only tell but it's good for him to get games either way, doesn't mean there isn't also some issue between Arteta and Saliba but people talk as if prime Cannavaro was sitting in our reserves.

Spot on.