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.
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.
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“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 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.
"All the defenders, they learned from someone. Nesta, he was next to Maldini. So for defenders to go to the next level you need that. When he turns 25, 26, it will be his turn to lead the defensive line and he will play with young players who will learn from him.”
Saliba looks set to partner Gabriel in the upcoming north London derby on Saturday. A win will be crucial for the Gunners seeing as though they lost their only other top-six tie against Manchester United at the start of September.
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