French media have now been reacting to how Arsenal’s William Saliba performed for his country last night in a rare chance to start....CONTINUE READING
Didier Deschamps has made it pretty clear that he isn’t entirely convinced by what Saliba offers his team, a really bizarre situation.
The French centre-back’s reputation in England is almost faultless, a player who looks destined to win major honours during his time with Arsenal.
And yet, when he’s called up to his national team he’s right on the periphery of things, a player who almost seems like a bit of a headache for his manager.
That being said, Saliba was afforded a chance to change that perception in a friendly against Chile last night.
It was common knowledge that the Arsenal man would start, and he indeed played the whole 90 minutes in the 3-2 win, playing alongside Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate in the starting pair.
And having scanned the reaction in the French media to Saliba’s performance last night, it was clear that opinions on the Arsenal man were still a little torn.
For example, Maxifoot weren’t too complimentary on an ‘average’ night for Saliba, admitting that he made ‘two errors’ despite an important late interception.
They wrote: “Lined up for this meeting, the central defender of the France team was average.
“On the opening score, the former Marseillais, without being directly responsible, was too short to counter Nunez’s strike.
“Subsequently, the Arsenal player was attentive to the rare opposing attempts in the first half and still stood out with precise restarts.
“Two errors during the second act: he forgot Vargas, alone behind him and author of a header on the post, and took too long to come out on Osorio, scorer.
“We must still highlight his beautiful intervention, in the last moments, in front of Brereton Diaz.”
Perhaps it perfectly summarises the Arsenal defender’s situation with his country right now with a different French source, Le Parisian, celebrating a ‘powerful’ display.
They commented: “A serious performance from the Arsenal defender.
“If in the past he has not always shown his best face in blue, the former Marseillais was diligent and authoritarian like this great return into the area.”
It’s an odd situation, and it will be similarly perplexing when France are likely to line up at the Euros without the Arsenal stalwart.
Of course, Mikel Arteta will just be grateful that his key man is returning unscathed, ready for this huge Manchester City clash.
And with that in mind, it was also interesting to note how the German media summarised Kai Havertz’s display last night.
