"He didn't learn from his mistakes" – Arsenal superstar criticised by journalist for 'catastrophic' performance in UEFA Nations League
Get French Football News reporter Bastien Cheval has slammed Arsenal defender William Saliba for his below-par performance in France's recent 2-1 UEFA Nations League win over Belgium.
Earlier this Monday (October 14), Les Bleus registered their third win in the Group B of the Nations League. Randal Kolo Muani netted the opener in the 35th minute before Lois Openda levelled things moments before the half-time whistle. After the break, Kolo Muani scored again in the 62nd minute of the match at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
Saliba, 23, produced a lacklustre outing against Belgium as he fouled Lois Openda inside his penalty area in the 20th minute. However, Youri Tielemans skied his shot from the spot-kick. Afterwards, Saliba let Openda net an unchallenged header from a Timothy Castagne cross.
After the end of the contest, Cheval gave the Arsenal star a 3/10 rating for his poor display and shared his thoughts on a Get French Football News column. He wrote (h/t GiveMeSport):
"A catastrophic first half from the Arsenal centre-back. Penalized for taking out Openda in his penalty box, he didn't learn from his mistakes in playing the RB Leipzig centre-forward onside for his equalizing goal. Still shaky in the second half."
Saliba, who received a yellow card in the 22nd minute of the match, played the full 90 minutes on Monday. He completed 65 of 72 passes, won just one of four overall duels, and made three clearances in the tie.
The Saint-Etienne academy graduate will next be in action for the Gunners in their Premier League encounter at Bournemouth this Saturday.
Ex-player reveals what Arsenal must do to keep hold of top centre-back amid interest
Speaking to talkSPORT, ex-Chelsea striker Emmanuel Petit asserted that Arsenal should win the UEFA Champions League trophy to keep hold of William Saliba. He said (h/t Tribal Football):
"Winning and being successful is a great way of keeping players, it really is. Arsenal have to achieve that because Saliba is playing to the level of being a Real Madrid player but he's got to be convinced that [the Gunners] are going to be a successful and winning team. They need to be challenging to win the Champions League."
With both Eder Militao and David Alaba proving to be too injury-prone of late, Real Madrid have reportedly identified Saliba as a top target. They could decide to snap the talented Frenchman in the summer of 2025.
So far, Saliba has found the back of the net five times and recorded two assists in 92 appearances across competitions for Mikel Arteta's side.