After France lost to Italy, many of their players got in trouble, as is common when they lose an international football match. William Saliba, an Arsenal defender, was one of those players.
That time, Saliba was attacked for how he played on his own; the Arsenal center-back didn’t get along well with Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate.
On Monday night, though, France beat Belgium 2-0 at home, so things were different.
The France boss, Didier Deschamps, made a lot of changes after their 4-1 loss to Italy. Saliba and Konate were two of the players who started both games.
For Arsenal, it was good that Saliba lived up to his manager’s trust and helped keep the scoreless against players like Kevin De Bruyne.
Of course, it’s important to note that Leandro Trossard wasn’t on Belgium’s team and wasn’t even considered for these games.
William Saliba told him that he could be France’s “defensive leader.”
It’s interesting that a lot of the French press named Matteo Guendouzi their player of the match in the 2-0 win. Feels like old times.
But looking at Saliba’s play, it wasn’t just De Bruyne that the Arsenal defender was stifling at the back. Sofoot also thought that Lois Openda, a striker linked to England and RB Leipzig, was taught a harsh lesson.
They gave Saliba an 8/10 and said, “If Lois Openda was thinking about moving to the Premier League soon, William Saliba made sure to show him what his weekends might be like: on the ground, with bloody ankles.”
“Saliba confirmed his potential as a future pillar of the French defense,” Mvz Sports wrote. He was very strong physically, and he handled the deep well. Openda didn’t bother him.
“He felt tense at times when restarting, but he was able to stay focused and sure of himself against the Belgians.” The result was reassuring.
Foot Mercato agreed with what was said about Saliba looking a little nervous with the ball after the restart, which is strange, but they also added to what was said.
They summed it up by saying, “The Arsenal defender was effective against a very poor Belgian attack. He is still a starter in the Blues’ central hinge.”
“Even though he had a few scares when he started up again, he was very solid.” As a star on defense for this French team, he has a bright future ahead of him.
Martin Odegaard got hurt while playing for Norway before the North London match.
It looks like Saliba will be able to get back to London Colney without any injuries, but his captain, Martin Odegaard, has not been so lucky.
Odegaard had to leave the game with an ankle injury on Monday night while playing with Erling Haaland for Norway.
Getting Declan Rice in place for the derby was already hard for Mikel Arteta, and now it looks like his leader will also have to miss it.
Riccardo Calafiori is also hurt, which means the Gunners will have a tough international break.
All of these problems should not be too big of a deal, but Arsenal now has to go to Tottenham Hotspur and then play Atalanta and Manchester City next week.
