William Saliba: Here to Stay ✍️

[Rex Stone]

I think Arteta really likes Holding and he plays ahead of Saliba, at least at first.

I think the WC and the ucl games at Marseille are a tough combo to beat, and they'll keep playing the "we have no money" card and hope Saliba pushes for it.

I think the PL will cram the games after the WC, btw. Player welfare will play a big part from the player's point of view. Will be interesting to see how managers motivate and protect guys with caps.

My prediction is we’ll have one of Holding or Saliba in the squad next year but not both.

I think we’re in the market for a LCB as well.

 

[razörist]

I watched his first press-conference and don't this he's gonna survive at United
You need BDE like LVG & Mou to do something there, Ten Hag doesn't give these vibes.

I hope so bro! The guy is a good manager but he has zero charm. Press is gonna have a field day with him.

 

[Batman]

Don’t be silly.
We know White is a top PL defender and proven in the PL at 24 yrs of age.

Saliba is yet to play a PL game.
He’s years behind White, literally.

Is he going to be better in the PL if he stays?
Maybe. I hope so. Any player who turns out better than what we have is great for us.

All Ben White has proven in the PL is that he can be turned inside out by the likes of Ivan Toney. Never respond to me with some stupid sh*t like this again. We are the only team other than maybe one owned by a Nazi that would take Ben White over William Saliba.

 

[RunTheTrap]

That's true but if I may spin it another way. When Vieira left, the commentators said it was better than losing Henry. Years later, we've never replaced Vieira in any way but managed to replicate Henry's numbers with multiple scorers. Losing a foundation stone can be more damaging down the line.

I think we replaced Vieira in a different way with Cesc. Unfortunately we didn’t surround Cesc with the same talent like we did with Vieira. From 06-09 were some of the greatest football I’d seen Arsenal play. Had we won the CL or a PL during that time we may have looked at Vieira vs Cesc very differently.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Btw, if Arteta seriously thinks Holding > Saliba then he needs to go find his Bible and ask for forgiveness…because he won’t be getting any from me.

 

[Rimaal]

Can see the little dictator seduce him into coming back only to bury him in the u21.

Real class act our manager. Oh and for those speaking about his English, you’re in for a treat with Ten Hag. Picture LVG without a sense of humor.

I've seen his first presser. For a guy that landed in England last week, it's not bad. Arteta has been here for 20 years.

 

[Big Poppa]

We actually improved the season Gilberto got dropped for Flamini I would say. But yes, the following season we struggled a little after losing both alongside Diarra.

Yes we started the 2007/8 season with Flamini, Song, Diarra, Cesc, Diaby all in that position - it was one of the strongest collections of CMs we had in the Wenger era.

 

[GDeep™]

Always have to say it, Diaby was a great talent. Probably the most talented young CM I have ever seen in the PL - not including Cesc, he was obviously an alien.

 

[razörist]

I've seen his first presser. For a guy that landed in England last week, it's not bad. Arteta has been here for 20 years.

Lol. I can tell you this: it’s not getting any better.

 

[Big Poppa]

Always have to say it, Diaby was a great talent. Probably the most talented young CM I have ever seen in the PL - not including Cesc, he was obviously an alien.

Hmm in terms of potential and ceiling yes (22 year old Modric has a big claim though), but I don’t think Wenger ever got the tactical balance right to get the best out of him.

When fit and available he often used him wide left or as a 2nd striker until we switched to a 433, but even then everything revolved around Cesc, and as talented as that kid was, Wenger pinned way too much on him.

Diaby, along with 18 year old Anelka though (outside of Cesc) are two of the scariest young talents I’ve seen at this club.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Always have to say it, Diaby was a great talent. Probably the most talented young CM I have ever seen in the PL - not including Cesc, he was obviously an alien.

6ft4 powerhouse with twinkle toes. A fully fit Diaby was Paul Pogba before Paul Pogba.

 

[Dokaka]

Always have to say it, Diaby was a great talent. Probably the most talented young CM I have ever seen in the PL - not including Cesc, he was obviously an alien.

Unreal talent pre-injury. Obviously quite raw in spots but you'd still be hard pressed to find a player in football right now with the same mix of physical tools and skill as him, especially at that age. One of my personal biggest "what ifs" player wise in football, such a ****ing shame what happened to him. If you go back and check some of his more advanced stats from sites that have gone back and tried to collect metrics before it became more of a thing, it only reinforces my opinion.

His offensive game was clear to see, but he was also average 2.7 tackles and 2.7 interceptions in his last up until his injury. In comparison, current darling Bissouma is average 2.9 and 1.9. Obviously there's more to it than just stats but Diaby was EASILY twice the offensive player Bissouma is.

When I joined the forum I was really surprised by how underrated he was on here. Felt like Arsenal fans didn't realize what they had in their hands, but I'm happy to see hindsight has shifted a lot of opinion on him.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Yes we started the 2007/8 season with Flamini, Song, Diarra, Cesc, Diaby all in that position - it was one of the strongest collections of CMs we had in the Wenger era.

Yeah and you even forgot poor old Denilson. 07/08 was the season we played world class football and was top of the league for the majority until we bottled it with injuries. I think 13/14 season we had a good collection of midfielders too. Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla Arteta, Coquelin, Rosicky, Flamini. We also topped the league for a long time too. Two very different sets of midfielders but both almost gave us our closest run to a league title.

I also say midfield is the most important part of the pitch and where the identity of your playing style. I know attack is a problem but you need reliable midfielders to get the ball up the pitch to the attackers for it to work. We really need to concentrate on bringing two CMs and the rest will follow imo.

 

[Kav]

Yeah and you even forgot poor old Denilson. 07/08 was the season we played world class football and was top of the league for the majority until we bottled it with injuries. I think 13/14 season we had a good collection of midfielders too. Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla Arteta, Coquelin, Rosicky, Flamini. We also topped the league for a long time too. Two very different sets of midfielders but both almost gave us our closest run to a league title.

I also say midfield is the most important part of the pitch and where the identity of your playing style. I know attack is a problem but you need reliable midfielders to get the ball up the pitch to the attackers for it to work. We really need to concentrate on bringing two CMs and the rest will follow imo.

That’s the difference in philosophy between Wenger and other managers. Wenger always built his teams around his midfield. While having dominant or excellent forwards were always welcomed and ingrained into the way we played. His teams were reliant on passing and controlling the ball. Even his more counter attacking teams required the right balance of technique, physicality, skills, vision and speed of thought to transition the play quickly up the field.

He may have not put as much emphasis on defending but his philosophy often included defending by keeping the ball (similar to how Pep has done it but not as extreme as those boring Mancs).


He really enjoyed watching the team construct their plays in intricate ways. We were even accused of showing off which we did on a few occasions because we were that much better than the opponents.

 

[A_G]

 

[Sapient Hawk]

 

[Batman]

Rest in Peace to the legend.

 

[DUFFMAN]

Realising he can pick any team he wants in 1 year for 10 million when we should be getting 50 million.

******.

 

[Sapient Hawk]

Rest in Peace to the legend.

Very talented & severely underrated. Not only was he great in Goodfellas, but he was also fantastic in Field of Dreams & Something Wild!

 

[2Smokeyy]

Would be a good move for him