What is the vision, Arsenal side, of William Saliba?
Quentin Marquilly: William Saliba is a young person who must be shaped. He arrived under Unai Emery and it was decided to send him on loan to Saint-Etienne so that he could continue his development in a framework that was familiar to him, but also to facilitate negotiations with ASSE. The change of coach may raise the question: is Saliba part of Arteta’s plans? The question, when you know the talent and the style of play of Saliba, for me it does not even have the merit to be asked. Saliba represents one of the biggest French and world cracks as a central defender, a position which often requires a lot of experience. Arteta must know that and I think the watchword is to take your time with this kind of youngster. It is far too early to say that it is a casting error because he has not played the slightest minute in our jersey in an official match and that he will most certainly have his chance (and no doubt that he will be able to seize it). ) one day or another.
However, its management raises a lot of questions. The club’s vision seems to be long term with the player, and that annoys fans who want short-term solutions, especially in a position where the competition is not 100% reliable. However, its management during the transfer window was relatively poor. I still think Arteta holds him in high regard. The latest echoes about him still say that he is criticized for his lack of responsiveness and speed, especially in decision-making, which seems a little weird when you see how comfortable he was in these estates in Saint-Etienne. However, that seems to be the case in training therefore, and even in a match where he did not seem more comfortable than that with the U23 according to some bloggers who follow the youngsters closely. From an official communication point of view, Arteta said it half-heartedly: the player is not ready. He places a lot of emphasis on “in the future” when he talks about himself.
Would he not be at the center of a “war” between Mikel Arteta and his management?
QM: I don’t think there is any war between Mikel Arteta and his management. He has recently been managing the athlete (and therefore recruitment and the sporting plan) in close collaboration with Edu Gaspar, the technical director for Arsenal. Regarding loans, Arsenal has appointed a loan manager who seeks to analyze the best opportunities for each of the players brought on loan. Arteta has managed to impose his vision everywhere at Arsenal since joining. And the sporting vision, it has an even more important hold on it since the dismissal of Raul Sanllehi. Certainly, Saliba was scouted by people who are no longer at the club now, recruited under Unai Emery and still represents a huge investment for a youngster of this age. But I think everyone is on the same wavelength about him within the club: Saliba represents the future, but he remains a very young player, who still has a lot to learn, who lands at Arsenal with around 30 professional matches in the legs, who is aware himself that he will have to increase his level of play to adapt etc. I think we want to give him time above all, something that we supporters we do not always manage to take into account because we live more in the culture of the moment, we want immediate results, we all think that Saliba de by his talent and his intrinsic qualities could immediately have a positive impact on our defense.
What is the competition in central defense?
QM: The competition is more quantitative than qualitative. Whether we play 3-4-3 or 4-3-3, I think William is led to play right axis. We will therefore not be talking about Kieran Tierney (who plays lateral / left piston or more recently left axis in the defense of three). Gabriel who arrived this summer also plays rather on the left since he is left-handed (and he is already giving great satisfaction). Pablo Mari, whom we have seen very little since his arrival in January because he was almost always injured (two average appearances for him) does not seem to be the full risk insurance and plays him anyway. rather left axis because left-handed too. Kolasinac also helped out at this post, and was poor there. As for the right axis position, we have five possibilities: David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi, Rob Holding, Calum Chambers and Sokratis. Sokratis is not a competition per se as he is absolutely not part of Arteta’s plans. The club tried to find him a point of fall throughout the transfer window, without success. As a result, the Greek will not even be listed in the Europa League and PL, so he will not play (a bit like Özil). Mustafi had come back well under Arteta despite a few air holes and mistakes at times. Arteta has praised his behavior many times, his side to do nothing, but the German has far too big shortcomings to be a viable solution in both the short and long term. The club also sought to get rid of it, without success. Rob Holding was due to leave him on loan from Newcastle but Arteta demanded in extremis that he stay before the resumption of the PL because Mustafi was still out for a few weeks (he has only just returned) and David Luiz had a problem with the neck (without forgetting that Mari was still out for a few weeks, Gabriel not yet integrated etc).
As for the Englishman, he remains young, he was seen as a crack when he was recruited at Bolton, but he will never really break through. The only time he really did chain was for 4-5 months at the start of the Emery era, and for once, he was really good, especially in the relaunch. He went through the cracks and took a long time to come back … to a very poor level. Its strong point of relaunching has completely disappeared. It is absolutely no longer safe on the ball, much less mobile and overall too weak in all areas. Ultimately, I clearly don’t see a place for him in the Arteta project. This will perhaps be more the case of Chambers who is a bit older, but who gave him satisfaction the little we saw last season. Much stronger defensively, more comfortable on the restart (it helps to have played 6 in PL a season in a street Fulham team and to be the only good player on the team) and more complete in the whole, but he also made the crusaders last December against Chelsea (at the arrival of Arteta what) and we are still waiting for his return … The last is David Luiz who is seen as a taulier from the locker room by Arteta and by everyone I think. So in terms of his level, it is not in itself serious competition for Saliba. The Brazilian is more on the street defensively, often late in his interventions, he concedes a lot of penalties and takes red cards, and then he is quite an error prone like Mustafi. However, we should not minimize its impact in the locker room. He is seen as the big brother by absolutely all the young people who thank him for his advice and his status, he is an essential element for the integration of recruits as well. Anyway, not super reassuring and interesting in the field, but unwavering in the group.