Former Arsenal defender William Gallas raised eyebrows ahead of the North London Derby when he suggested that William Saliba needed to play alongside an experienced centre-back at the Gunners to really develop and improve. Gallas told Genting Casino: "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.
“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."
Saliba is playing alongside 24-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes in a youthful centre-back partnership and Gallas' concern about the Frenchman not learning off an experienced partner would only have increased when Gabriel gave away a penalty in the 3-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday.
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The Brazilian brought down fellow countryman Richarlison in the box, even though the Spurs forward looked as though he was running into traffic, and Harry Kane converted the spot-kick.
Rio Ferdinand questioned why Gabriel felt the need to go to ground to bring down Richarlison in the box. It was a needless challenge by the Arsenal centre-back and it perhaps highlighted Gallas' point that Saliba would benefit from playing alongside an elite and experienced defender.
"If you are Mikel Arteta you are saying to Gabriel – stay on your feet," Ferdinand told BT Sport. Despite being critical of Gabriel, Ferdinand was impressed by Saliba - who once again put in a classy performance in the heart of the Gunners defence - and believes it's his calmness on the ball that sets him apart from other defenders.
"He’s very strong, he’s mobile but it’s that composure in the pressure situations," said Ferdinand.
"He was the most composed centre-back on the pitch today, especially from Arsenal’s perspective.
"I think in the first half there were times in transition when Arsenal could’ve got hurt. How many times do you see him come out with the ball, advance a little bit and then play the ball to another red shirt?"
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