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William Saliba: Here to Stay ✍️

Who?

  • Van Dijk

    Votes: 31 10.9%
  • Saliba

    Votes: 240 84.2%
  • Maguire

    Votes: 14 4.9%

  • Total voters
    285

Mrs Bergkamp

Double Dusted
Dusted 🔻
I really want to believe this as well. Saliba will still only be 21 at the start of next season which is still a baby in CB years... In theory he'd be ideal coming back into a more settled squad as an option to displace Mari.

I dunno though... White taking his squad number was pretty brutal and he literally hasn't kicked a ball for us yet competitively. It all points to a falling out behind the scenes unfortunately. Think Tomiyasu will get minutes at CB now as well.
3, 12, 23 and 28 were the Invincible shirt numbers for our first choice defence! Lots of exits next season, so the numbers will undergo a real revamp. If Partey can stay fit and play in beast mode, I'd love to see him wear the number 4. It's time for that shirt to be respected again. Saliba can have Kolo's number 28 (4 x 7. Arteta loves fancy numbering I'm sure.
 

AbouCuéllar

Author of A-M essays 📚
Yes six months sitting at Arsenal doing nothing and not even being registered for Europa is a good way of handling development. If that was me, I would be done with Arsenal after that; I would know, under the current management/tech director, that Arsenal was not the club for me.

Saliba even tried to appease Arteta by dying his hair blonde, but unfortunately, it seems as if Arteta only likes natural blondes.
Yeah, that was poor. But extenuating circumstances with his family issues and the pandemic. But yeah, that was annoying (like Balogun not going out on loan now).

Saying you would be done with the club because of that is a bit of an overreeaction though.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
3, 12, 23 and 28 were the Invincible shirt numbers for our first choice defence! Lots of exits next season, so the numbers will undergo a real revamp. If Partey can stay fit and play in beast mode, I'd love to see him wear the number 4. It's time for that shirt to be respected again. Saliba can have Kolo's number 28 (4 x 7. Arteta loves fancy numbering I'm sure.

28 Toure, is probably my fav ever Arsenal defender...would love Saliba to do that number justice again, can't even remember who had it after Kolo.
 

Xln

Get me Jesus on the phone 📲
Too much hand-wringing and histrionics going on with Saliba atm, IMO, the reality is that he's still a 20 year old CB, he's still playing in a lesser league, and he's still got loads of evolution ahead of him, especially at the very top level. Look at de Ligt who everyone was talking about 2 years ago, when he had Saliba's age, as the generational talent. He's spent 2 years in Serie A evolving, and now surprise surprise, I see rumours about two of the truly well run football clubs (Chelsea and Madrid), prioritising him for next summer, when he'll be 23. Wrt to CB's evolution I can go down the list, this is just how it is is without exception, from van Dijk to Koulibaly, none of them were hitting their peak at a high level of football before age 23.

I completely believe Saliba will be reincorporated into the squad next summer as our 3rd CB behind Gabriel and White. That will give him a more stable platform to develop in the PL, with two CBs of some level to combine with, and hopefully in 2 or 3 years after we are talking about him like City are talking about Stones now (which, no doubt, Arteta, who is always looking at Guardiola as a template, is seeing City's situation with 3 top CBs and envisioning that--Stones another example of this rule of CBs developing later, btw).

For now, he's a 20 year old CB with massive projection, who is not the best CB in the world nor close to it no matter people's hyperbolic reactions to some Ligue 1 matches, and he's doing what he needs to be doing: playing every game at a decent level of football in a decent league. You could even argue that next season the best thing for his development would be a PL loan, though of course, I, like the rest of us, am anxious to see him in an Arsenal shirt.
Quality post.
By far the best poster this forum has, always makes sense and on top of that your wall of texts are enjoyable to read!
 

tap-in

Nothing Wrong With Me
Too much hand-wringing and histrionics going on with Saliba atm, IMO, the reality is that he's still a 20 year old CB, he's still playing in a lesser league, and he's still got loads of evolution ahead of him, especially at the very top level. Look at de Ligt who everyone was talking about 2 years ago, when he had Saliba's age, as the generational talent. He's spent 2 years in Serie A evolving, and now surprise surprise, I see rumours about two of the truly well run football clubs (Chelsea and Madrid), prioritising him for next summer, when he'll be 23. Wrt to CB's evolution I can go down the list, this is just how it is is without exception, from van Dijk to Koulibaly, none of them were hitting their peak at a high level of football before age 23.

I completely believe Saliba will be reincorporated into the squad next summer as our 3rd CB behind Gabriel and White. That will give him a more stable platform to develop in the PL, with two CBs of some level to combine with, and hopefully in 2 or 3 years after we are talking about him like City are talking about Stones now (which, no doubt, Arteta, who is always looking at Guardiola as a template, is seeing City's situation with 3 top CBs and envisioning that--Stones another example of this rule of CBs developing later, btw).

For now, he's a 20 year old CB with massive projection, who is not the best CB in the world nor close to it no matter people's hyperbolic reactions to some Ligue 1 matches, and he's doing what he needs to be doing: playing every game at a decent level of football in a decent league. You could even argue that next season the best thing for his development would be a PL loan, though of course, I, like the rest of us, am anxious to see him in an Arsenal shirt.

Great post! I will add that one CB who was hitting the highs at age 20 was Tony Adams. Arsenal Captain at 21. He may not have been the best CB in the world but his mental strength and leadership qualities were second to none. What I'd give to have that type of player in our defence now. No wonder he remained Arsenal Captain for 14 years!
 

dka1

100% Dark Chocolate
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Yeah, that was poor. But extenuating circumstances with his family issues and the pandemic. But yeah, that was annoying (like Balogun not going out on loan now).

Saying you would be done with the club because of that is a bit of an overreeaction though.

Wait are you saying the family issues and the pandemic are the reason he couldn't go out on loan? Or that he couldn't be registered for the Europa League (remember Mari, yeah he was registered and was out till December)? Or that he didn't get a single kick not even in the league cup?

We can discount "the pandemic" immediately as I don't even know where you're going with that, that's a ridiculous notion.

As for the rest, Saliba himself has already made it clear that the passing of his parents had nothing to do with his lack of inclusion:


But perhaps I'm being too harsh as you did admit that we handled that situation poorly, we did.

I certainly hope he's not done with the club as I'd love for him to play for us, but I wouldn't really say it's an "overreaction" if he is. Players have wanted to leave clubs for much less.

Quality post.
By far the best poster this forum has, always makes sense and on top of that your wall of texts are enjoyable to read!

I sincerely hope that's sarcasm.

If it's not then just lol.
 

IstraBalagina

Active Member
Too much hand-wringing and histrionics going on with Saliba atm, IMO, the reality is that he's still a 20 year old CB, he's still playing in a lesser league, and he's still got loads of evolution ahead of him, especially at the very top level. Look at de Ligt who everyone was talking about 2 years ago, when he had Saliba's age, as the generational talent. He's spent 2 years in Serie A evolving, and now surprise surprise, I see rumours about two of the truly well run football clubs (Chelsea and Madrid), prioritising him for next summer, when he'll be 23. Wrt to CB's evolution I can go down the list, this is just how it is is without exception, from van Dijk to Koulibaly, none of them were hitting their peak at a high level of football before age 23.

I completely believe Saliba will be reincorporated into the squad next summer as our 3rd CB behind Gabriel and White. That will give him a more stable platform to develop in the PL, with two CBs of some level to combine with, and hopefully in 2 or 3 years after we are talking about him like City are talking about Stones now (which, no doubt, Arteta, who is always looking at Guardiola as a template, is seeing City's situation with 3 top CBs and envisioning that--Stones another example of this rule of CBs developing later, btw).

For now, he's a 20 year old CB with massive projection, who is not the best CB in the world nor close to it no matter people's hyperbolic reactions to some Ligue 1 matches, and he's doing what he needs to be doing: playing every game at a decent level of football in a decent league. You could even argue that next season the best thing for his development would be a PL loan, though of course, I, like the rest of us, am anxious to see him in an Arsenal shirt.
I don't think anybody expected Saliba to play every game and be world class straight away.
Look at Wesley Fofana, same age, came from the same league from the same team and he is already an established Centre Back in the PL.
The treatment he received is incomprehensible, especially when you see the likes of Kolasinac and Chambers playing as Centre Backs against City. You don't buy a CB for £27m and loan him for 3 seasons without giving him at least one chance to see what he's about, it's just a bad business and bad management.
You don't let him rot for half season if you care about his development.
 

AbouCuéllar

Author of A-M essays 📚
Wait are you saying the family issues and the pandemic are the reason he couldn't go out on loan? Or that he couldn't be registered for the Europa League (remember Mari, yeah he was registered and was out till December)? Or that he didn't get a single kick not even in the league cup?

We can discount "the pandemic" immediately as I don't even know where you're going with that, that's a ridiculous notion.
It's rather simple what I was trying to say. It was a special situation with a young boy coming back with family issues that perhaps slowed down his development and maturation, made even more special by a pandemic that meant there was almost no pre-season as there would be normally, for him to work with the manager and mix into the team and with his new teammates, with a covid market that was quite complicated by the pandemic (aside from being shortened, as well).

As I said, it was poor and annoying, but more context is always a good thing, and I was just referring to that.
 

dka1

100% Dark Chocolate
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
It's rather simple what I was trying to say. It was a special situation with a young boy coming back with family issues that perhaps slowed down his development and maturation, made even more special by a pandemic that meant there was almost no pre-season as there would be normally, for him to work with the manager and mix into the team and with his new teammates, with a covid market that was quite complicated by the pandemic (aside from being shortened, as well).

As I said, it was poor and annoying, but more context is always a good thing, and I was just referring to that.

Oh don't worry, I don't disagree there, I understood exactly what you were trying to say.

What I'm saying is that what you've written does not align with the way Arteta treated other signings.

Nor with the way he's treated Saliba since then (for example, this summer he was loaned out again without Arteta seeing him play a single preseason game).

Nor with what the player actually had to say about the situation which you've conveniently ignored.

So the context you've built up in your messages doesn't matter because it doesn't seem to have been the reason why Saliba was treated the way that he was.
 

UpTheGunnerz

Vrei sa pleci dar una una iei

Player:Elneny
Wonder if Arteta dusted him off because off his friendship with Guen. Watching Marseille and its ridiculousto belioeve that Willy The D aint got the sauce to at least be on our rooster instead of dusted Holding, Mari or Chambers.
 

Oxeki

Match Day Thread Merchant
Trusted ⭐

Country: Nigeria

Player:Saliba
I’m talking about Arteta and Edu.
Oh sorry, I misunderstood. Yeah, you're right though. The club is very much invested in them. It will take a catastrophic turn of events for the club to bin both of them.

Finishing 8th this season should be enough to ensure that Arteta keeps his job.
 

Barry

Definitely Not An Old Poster
Great post! I will add that one CB who was hitting the highs at age 20 was Tony Adams. Arsenal Captain at 21. He may not have been the best CB in the world but his mental strength and leadership qualities were second to none. What I'd give to have that type of player in our defence now. No wonder he remained Arsenal Captain for 14 years!
Drinking prowess was legendary as well, man could sink pints faster than Henry could score goals. Not good with hindsight obviously, but must have been fun for a while
 

Camus

Active Member
Trusted ⭐
IMO, the reality is that he's still a 20 year old CB, he's still playing in a lesser league, and he's still got loads of evolution ahead of him, especially at the very top level.
No one is disputing that. I've not seen anyone suggest that Saliba is the definitive finished article. "Definitive" as in when judged against all of world football. No one has said that. But he appears (heavy, heavy emphasis on "appears" as we've never been even given the opportunity to see him play for us and instead need to rely on hypothetical analogous interpolation) to be good enough to play some part with us.

Look at de Ligt who everyone was talking about 2 years ago, when he had Saliba's age, as the generational talent. He's spent 2 years in Serie A evolving, and now surprise surprise, I see rumours about two of the truly well run football clubs (Chelsea and Madrid), prioritising him for next summer, when he'll be 23.
I don't understand the comparisons with de Ligt at all. He was captain and a mainstay of a CL semi final reaching team in Ajax, who are more than comparable to us (that's actually an insult to Ajax seen they're levels above us), and then moved to one of the best clubs in the world at the time in Juventus, who are leaps and bounds superior to us, and has been a mainstay for them. This was from the ages of 19-22. I'm not sure what this comparison was supposed to prove? How is his situation similar to Saliba rotting unused and unregistered at 8th place Arsenal for 6 months, then being loaned to Saint-Étienne and then being once again not deemed good enough for 8th place Arsenal and going out on loan to Marseille?

Wrt to CB's evolution I can go down the list, this is just how it is is without exception, from van Dijk to Koulibaly, none of them were hitting their peak at a high level of football before age 23.
Once again o one is even remotely saying they think Saliba is prime van Dijk and Koulibaly or anything like that. What even is this complete and utter strawman.

In the same breath people excuse and defend Arteta for getting poor results because he's playing young/inexperienced players that are going to cost him goals/games/points as they develop and the "process" and all the nonsense and they cream themselves over how young our squad is etc.. but they seem to believe that Saliba is such a young undeveloped liability that he's incapable of playing a single minute for us until he's had +3 years on loan. Logic is laughably inconsistent and is clearly chopped and changed in furtherance of defending Arteta and his schizo decisions.

Our CB options are far from amazing. What people are saying is that they believe that Saliba is good enough/our other CB options are bad enough to warrant him getting some game time and for us to see.

I completely believe Saliba will be reincorporated into the squad next summer as our 3rd CB behind Gabriel and White. That will give him a more stable platform to develop in the PL, with two CBs of some level to combine with, and hopefully in 2 or 3 years after we are talking about him like City are talking about Stones now (which, no doubt, Arteta, who is always looking at Guardiola as a template, is seeing City's situation with 3 top CBs and envisioning that--Stones another example of this rule of CBs developing later, btw).
The way we've treated the lad so far, as has been clear by comments/decisions he's made, if he does come back and play well and has other clubs sniff around then there's little chance he'll sign a new deal and we'll be forced to sell him next summer anyway. It's poor management, plain and simple. The City example is more apt than you think because their 3rd top CB, Laporte, is desperate to leave as he's not getting enough game time. And that's someone with a long term contract and at a club like City. Why would Saliba who's been treated as badly as he has been, who's at a club like Arsenal, with 2 years left on his deal, want to stay as 3rd choice?

For now, he's a 20 year old CB with massive projection, who is not the best CB in the world nor close to it no matter people's hyperbolic reactions to some Ligue 1 matches,
Once again not a single person has said this strawman that you're so amped-up for arguing against. He doesn't even need to be remotely closed to the best CB in the world to play for us anyway.

and he's doing what he needs to be doing: playing every game at a decent level of football in a decent league.
The point is he could be doing that at Arsenal. We're not some elite club where the mistakes of a young CB are going to cost us the PL or CL. What risks is he going to cause to the objectives that this club wants to achieve. A lot of us that are extremely critical of Arteta are actually more patient with him when he does play the likes of Saka, ERS, Lokonga, Willock Balogun, Martinelli etc.. it's the old washed up, clearly terrible, low ceiling, expensive favourites that people lose patience with him over.

You could even argue that next season the best thing for his development would be a PL loan, though of course, I, like the rest of us, am anxious to see him in an Arsenal shirt.
Yeah agreed, Saliba definitely needs 4 years worth of loans to develop to displace the likes of Mustafi, Sokratis, Mari, Ben White, Holding, Gabriel and David Luiz....Throw in makeshift CB Kola into the mix as well.
 

tap-in

Nothing Wrong With Me
Drinking prowess was legendary as well, man could sink pints faster than Henry could score goals. Not good with hindsight obviously, but must have been fun for a while

If you haven't read it, Addicted is a bloody good read. Playing games still drunk from the night before. And playing well! :lol:
 

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