Seven games in the space of a month appear to have done William Saliba’s confidence a world of good.
Playing regular football for new club Nice, he’s earned praise for his performances in the heart of the defence and seems far more content with life after a stressful seven months at Arsenal.
If he keeps things up, he’ll be well-placed to challenge for a first team spot at the Emirates next season. That’s if he doesn’t burn all his bridges with Mikel Arteta beforehand.
A third interview with the French media in as many weeks raises a few eyebrows, especially given the barbed nature of some of his comments.
“It is clear that so much has changed in the last year,” the 19-year-old told RMC’s ‘Top of the Foot’ programme.
“When I saw that the coach changed a lot changed for me too. In this year there has been a lot of change. He [Arteta] judged me on two-and-a-half matches. I would have liked for him to play me more. But he told me I wasn’t ready.
“I was waiting for him to give me a chance, but football is like that. When I initially came to Arsenal the league looked very good so I showed up to training and wanted to train on my own to show the coach I was ready.
“I am happy now, I want to play for Nice. The idea when you’re part of a team is a better feeling for me.”
While Saliba carries the sympathies of the majority of Gunners fans who recognise he was treated carelessly by the club, he’d probably do well to keep his head down and focus on playing rather than talking.
As things stand it feels like he’s driving a wedge between himself and the club/coach and that’s not going to stand him in good stead if he wants a shot at the Emirates.
Hopefully, this is just youthful naivety rather than a strategic move but we’ll see how things play out in the coming weeks and months.
That video…. what in the actual fuck.
Can’t wait for the internet to do its thing and faceswap Arteta wanking it to Willian.
Don’t give anyone any ideas!!!!!
Even better Wenger and Ozil!
What video?
You don’t want to know mate. You seriously do not want to know.
It’s a fucking disgrace. The sooner the club get rid of that kid, the better. End of story.
For my understanding, someone else was doing a really disgusting thing and he should have left immediately but did not. Shouldn’t have to end his career at Arsenal but it tells he was in the swamp before.
Am I the only one who doesn’t really care what he does in his spare time? Clearly you’re not the first one down to the pride march with a rainbow flag, but give it a rest.
Does this have anything to do with the club? I care what he does on the pitch, and gay or straight, his personal life is his own matter.
Triggering. Unconscious bias. Toxic masculinity. Micro aggressions. All these things that are terrible but we can’t actually see.
Guy jerks himself off while minors are in the same room.
“This is fine.”
I don’t think that’s the point being made. No-one in their right mind sees that video and says “this is fine”
But it was from before he was an Arsenal player & made a mistake.
The idea that Saliba is now a “fucking disgrace” and we have to get rid of him over this is farcical.
If anything it’s time to support him because I can’t imagine he’s having a great day…
I’m not throwing Saliba under the bus at all. Maybe he’s videoing it to say “what the fuck is this?”
I’m just responding to people who imply there’s nothing abnormal about this.
If this happened in prison I’d be disgusted
Well said, J4H.
Back in the day, Arsenal would have booted this kid out of the club into orbit.
Now? Who knows? Will we see modern players taking the knee and bashing one out before the ref starts the game? If so, who are we narrow minded old farts from yesteryear to judge? Moral fibre is so 20th century.
I’d be interested to see if was so normalised and condoned if it were John Terry for example… I bet then the press and people on this site would rip him a new one for all manner of indecent offences.
It’s one thing a fully grown adult doing that infront of minors. It’s another when it’s a teammate of the same age. I’m not here to defend him, but in the grand scheme of things it’s fairly tame. Clearly this guy was taking it too far and was too young to know better but let’s not lynch Saliba for the recording. It’s not even him involved ffs.
Would you want your 15 year old boy in there?
J4 – 15yr old boys wank. They joke it, they brag about it, they lie about it, they fantasise about it… it’s what teenagers DO. Nothing more, nothing less.
Granted, posting a video online was dumb – but that also what many 15yr old are!
Show a little grace with a young lad who possibly made a momentary error of judgement. As so many of us have… it’s called growing up, man!
Exactly.
Can you imagine the hysteria if Ozil had got up to to those sort of capers? Blogs wouldn’t have a blog left – he’d be quietly sat there in soot covered rags, surrounded by the fire damaged smoking remains of a melted studio.
Back in the day when the club captain was done for drink driving and put people’s lives at risk. Or are you going further back?
Pull your tongue out of J4H ass will you. It’s actually getting pathetic now
Nice point. Really hit home the second time you made it.
Fair enough mate, if that’s the world you want to live in, be my guest. Sorry for criticising something you clearly find such wholesome fun.
I’m sorry that you have to constantly resort to personal attacks against me as you clearly find it impossible to speak to me in an educated manner. But that’s your problem, not mine.
He’s a fucking idiot.
“Constantly resort to personal attacks against you”. Really? What, because I told your little lap dog he’s pathetic for kissing your arse at every opportunity.
The only thing I’ve ever said about you was it’s about strange why you need to constantly post under the first comment of every article, even if what you said wasn’t relevant to the comment. It’s a bit needy, don’t you think? If that one time is “constantly”, I guess I’m guilty
If I had the inclination, I could reference at least three occasions where you’ve been needlessly and personally offensive. But I’m about to go to bed.
It’s ok. We are all strange versions of ourselves online. I just hope the actual you isn’t filled with such hostility, for your sake. Life’s short. I can testify to that.
It’s such a waste to spend it angrily looking into other peoples garden when we all have our own garden to tend.
No anger here, I assure you. You have a good night sir
That Arsenal player served his punishment.
Will this Arsenal player? I hope so.
Really??! It’s not some ageing predator mate – it’s a couple of naughty teenagers doing something that happens in many a boarding school, uni, army camp, etc.
Keep some perspective… should he have post it? Absolutely not… but would that we all had that sense of judgement at 15 yrs old.
It truly is – just a wank!
He’s what, 19 years old. Did you say that when the Arsenal captain was done for drink driving?
he was 16-17? in the video..
I didn’t know that, I haven’t seen it.
Even more reason for the holier than thou to get off his back
We’ve finally found something that TB doesn’t know. 😭😭😭 Whatever shall we do?!
Oh look. No one cares.
Ok, you’ve made your point; you advocate Saliba’s behaviour. You’re the pathetic one here.
If I want to agree with what J4H says, I will. Free country free blog.
The last person I’m going to worry about is you, you boring sad little boy.
cmon you telling me youve never filmed one of your mates having a cheeky wank? take a chill pill man no big deal
Mate, this is a social media post from a supposedly professional footballer who plays for Arsenal Football Club.
He has professional responsibilities. He’s now 19, a fully grown adult and should know better.
I hope the French Football Federation throw the book at him.
No – it’s a social media post from an immature mid teen who
(a) was NOT in any way associated with AFC
(b) was just a kid, not a professional
(c) clearly knew no better, for various reasons to which none of us are privy (parental guidance, background, schooling, etc).
Which of us didn’t do anything risque, borderline illegal or just plain dumb, at that age?
Easy tiger – the kid’s just 19. It’s his manager/advisors I’d take to task… clearly the jingoistic French media have sensed click-bait and are goading him into the poor-me, Arsenal never gave me chance narrative. His ‘people’ should be handling this a whole lot better! And there’s a nugget of truth in this – as there invariably is, when stories get twisted – He wasn‘t given enough opportunity… we did royally cock up his French cup chance… and all the other admin surrounding his move. My take: he was subjected to the worst of Arsenal’s shocking player management under Fat… Read more »
Just read the later posts re ‘that video’. Have no need nor desire to watch it – but here’s a less reactionary view: So he filmed a mate spanking the monkey in an all-boys changeroom when they were both too young to know better. That goes on all the time at boarding schools (and plenty of Uni’s now – and is sold for beer money on porn sites!). Right now there are 10yr olds in Africa being forced to execute their own families, their entire villages, as child soldiers… THAT is what we should be angry about, not 2 blokes… Read more »
one of these post would have done and made your point.
We get it you and your mates wanked eachother off when you were teenagers we dont all need to know
And yet, even with the numerous posts – you, peering through your narrow bars of prejudice, missed that point completely.
Better stil (oh, sweet irony!), you’ve simply illustrated it all the clearer: I try to draw a legimate parallel between kids being forced to murder their own families, as possibly just a tad more NB than 2 schoolkids taking the piss… yet all you see is an opportunity to reinforce a pathetic homophobic stereotype.
Nobody missed your point There were no narrow bars of preduice or sweet irony. you just droned on about teenagers wanking for about 5 posts and seem to think that every teenagers life is like a scene from the film porkys.
Does that include those forced to become child-soldiers? You are so far off the mark in your comfort-zone mate… the entire point is that too many kids lives’ are NOT scenes from Porkys… but barf on about it some more, why don’t you?
EVERYONE: Do not link to that video here.
Someone done something dodgy?
There’s a few second video going around of saliba on a couch in a France U18? change room, with a naked teammate who is casually wanking right next to him while Saliba slyly records. It’s just teenage pervert stuff, but they are still underage kids, and now that you have the exact description you don’t need to watch it because I’m pretty sure it’s illegal.
Thanks for the heads up. The “ just don’t watch- u don’t want to know” comments weren’t much of a deterrent. Luckily your post was. Bullet dodged.
The fact that u have so vehemently condemned it has led many to search 4 it. Most people on the internet have surmised that the kid is gay… If so good 4 him
Don’t think AB has condemned it, just asked not to link. But agree the general reaction has been thoroughly depressing. Compared to most of what rugby teams get up to when left to their own devices pretty tame, but in that context somehow macho? I saw an MMA fighter ‘oil check’ an opponent live on BT Sport just last month! More to the point, even if he is gay, who gives a ****.
Yeah, I’ve been in a few rugby teams. This definitely never happened.
Someone did this in school once and they got sectioned. Just saying. It is weird.
No, Rugby teams are too busy drinking each others pubes and sharing condoms for anything too weird…
He’s not gay…for goodness sake and even if he was so what?
Yeah we’re gonna need to see that video 🤔😂😂
Gives “Free Willy” a whole new meaning…
Saliba a big fan of Roman Pole-outski?
An utter disgrace. Get rid of him. Now. I was supporting this lad and his grievance at a lack of match opportunities barely half an hour ago, but that video is utterly vile and has absolutely nothing to do with the way an Arsenal player should conduct himself. Edu and Arteta have treated him badly, but that does not excuse that sort of thing. I now say the club should get rid of him ASAP. I don’t care how talented the kid is, there are standards of behaviour that he has clearly breached and he deserves to go. We’ve clearly… Read more »
Eh it was 4 years ago. Was he 15 there?
and it’s not him doing it is it. Still it was immature to post it, as a 15 year old.
It’s also potentially illegal to view/distribute given the ages of the people involved.
But looks like you have seen it yourself at least once. So does that mean you could also face the law soon?
how was it leaked?! it’s clear saliba made the vid. so tbh, wanking off next to your mate in the dressing room is odd. but filming and sharing/spreading is….i don’t know, but immature is not the word im looking for.
The word you are searching for is inexcusable. As Blogs said, it’s also potentially illegal.
I am absolutely sickened by the whole thing. It has absolutely nothing to do with football and I hope the powers that be respond appropriately.
Arsenal Football Club should suspend him indefinitely.
Just want to make it absolutely clear that I did NOT view the video and merely learned of it’s content via a third party online news bulletin.
The fact it was four years ago does not excuse the player from posting it. Do Arsenal Football Club wish to associate themselves with someone who would post such material?
Shame on them if they do. It’s complete inexcusable. Get rid of him.
Why are you drawing conclusion, writing long comments on a video you didn’t see?
“that video is utterly vile and has absolutely nothing to do with the way an Arsenal player should conduct himself” from someone who didn’t see it?
Eh because they are kids, that’s why it’s so vile, he doesn’t need to watch it to know it’s wrong.
The first part of your post is what counts: they WERE kids. Kids do silly, risque, exploratory things – it’s how the test – and learn – boundaries.
To me – all that matters is what Saliba does now and next season. That is what will define him as a man and a professional athlete in the public eye.
Has he matured? We shall see – but no-one should be judging him on a bit of silliness from his mid-teens.
I mean, it’s 2021. We don’t need to have an understanding of what actually happened, to have heard from the people involved or to have even seen the video to know that Saliba is a “disgrace” and should have his career ruined.
Rumours of a clip that your heard of from are a mate are good enough.
I wish there was a permanent mute button for some posters (not you stockholmgooner)
Hear hear
Send the link please
He wasn’t even an Arsenal player when it was recorded…
No-one is coming out of this well but he’s not done anything illegal, it was before he was an Arsenal player & he was 15, a time when we’ve all made mistakes.
Chill out. Take a seat on a sofa even.
Remember TGSTEL shagging a taxi? Simpler times.
One man. One car. One night of passion.
That car had the ride of its life
Fare’s fair
badum-tish
And Boris Becker’s Broom Cupboard….
I’m guessing the club knew about it and that’s why he’s in France.
The greatest irony here will be how Arteta and Arsenal stand by Saliba and support him through this process (as scrutiny of the video and its circumstances develops) going forward, welcoming him back with a clean slate when training camp begins this summer.
Absolutely. This club used to be renowned for it’s class. Now, it’s a fucking embarrassment to the former greats.
It’s Arsenal in name only.
As the article states, my sympathy is beginning to wear thin.
Yes, you were given 2.5 matches and I guess you didn’t cut it. If Nice is your level mate, crack on.
Well Arsenal under Arteta are at a Willian level.
Go figure.
I think he’s entitled to be disgruntled. It doesn’t even look fair to me at how he was treated. It didn’t look fair with the caliber of players we had. It didn’t look fair with the competitions we were in.
Absolutely he has every right to be annoyed but it seems everyone forgets the reasons Arteta gave or conveniently try to ignore them. For a CB of his age given the limited appearances in his career up to that time in a new league, things could have gone either way. We saw what happened with Senderos who was a very promising CB only to be shattered by Drogba here and there. If I am not mistaken he even broke down in tears after that loss to liverpool in the champions league and that was the end of his journey with… Read more »
I think Sanogo could have had a better career, had he never come to Arsenal. His time at Arsenal destroyed his confidence. Toulouse was relegated and did not even offer him a contract and he was without a club trying to play in italian B league.
Seems his name and price tag prove something…which they dont.
Seems perfectly fine to me that he was at the bottom of the pecking order.
What was shit was he didnt get that loan move sorted at the start of the season. That was a missed opportunity that Arsenal can take some flack for. The rest of it? Nah.
Next interiview Saliba gives:I was judged on a two-and-a-half-minute video.
But it’s not that simple, is it. We paid about £27 million for him according to reports. If he wants to “crack on” there, you’d presumably sell him. That may mean Arsenal taking quite a big loss depending on the state of the market etc. (it’s not what it was when we bought him in Summer 2019). We could force him to return I guess, but would that get the best out of an already pis*ed off player? If he does return, he could just sit in the reserves or at home although nobody benefits from that and it looks… Read more »
Next to the 35m Mustafi, Saliba looks a right bargain
I’m getting pretty tired of the incessant questions from reporters, but not worried about Saliba at all tbh. He’s only answering the questions being put to him in an honest way so fair do’s.
He’s playing football now, so good for him and I don’t see any reason why he should hold a long-standing grudge over the last few months. Pretty confident Arteta will manage him well going forward.
This is a real test of his character now and if he comes through it well then I’m sure he will become a great player for us.
i agree with goonerrific. yes he’s entitled to be disgruntled, but why go on publicly time and time again? the ligue 1 isn’t the premier league and saliba’s apparently been very good at st. etienne before, as has pepe been for lille. that said, i really don’t get why arteta didn’t try him. he was reluctant to play saka and esr as much as he does now, too, so he well might have been wrong about saliba, too. all the time (before he went to nice) i thought it was saliba’s personal troubles that stop arteta from playing him, turned… Read more »
Agreed Vie. Worrying that Mikel also was ready to let Holding go out on loan..and what? Rely on David Luiz and Mustafi?! I have still have faith in Mikel, but to quote le grove, that’s a sign of bad taste in players. Having said that Gabriel, Partey and Aouar suggests he does have some eye for talent. Odegaard too maybe.
Would not be surprised if he is sold. Chambers will be kept. Not necessarily about the quality of the players, but Chambers is English, and with the post-Brexit rules, it would make sense for Arsenal to capitalise on the Hale End Academy as a monetising asset. Get young English players from the lower leagues -> get them up to Premier League levels -> if player is okay, sell to Championship promotion hopefuls or lower half teams, else sell to teams in Europe. If really good, keep. The way we have got in younger foreign players like Omar Rekik, Nikolaj Moller,… Read more »
Until Rekik, Moller and others aren’t played and leave, like Balogun, while we play Luiz and Willian at every opportunity. I’m really fed up with Arteta, he’s a huge disappointment, very good at talking the talk (how Martinelli is so good) but doesn’t walk the walk, Gabi rots on the bench while we get to watch Willian losing the ball again.
Most people share your frustrations regarding the good players being benched and Willian having a contract at Arsenal at all. There needs to be a call at season’s end on that one.
I like your name.
Nothing I’ve seen this season suggests we’re any better than Nice. Fans need to lower expectations. We’ve no given right to win or challenge for trophies. We are a mid table team with mostly average players, who would struggle to play in the championship week in week out, on champions league winner wages.
As Mr. Miyagi says, “The are no bad students, only bad teachers.” Guendo and Saliba are generational talents but in the end they’re young kids. Arteta/Edu have severely mismanaged them. No excuses.
Not sure you can lump Guendozi in with Saliba there. He has previous for attitude problems and I’m not convinced he’s that special
Also, unlike Saliba he cannot be complaining about lack of opportunities.
He started tons of games under Emery in his first season in the PL at 19/20 years old. Mkhitaryan and Özil called him the best young player they’ve played with. Maupay is a cunt that even Brighton don’t like. How about we support our young players for once instead of piling on? Endless patience for Xhaka but Guendo gets the exile?
Maybe Guendouzi should have made his feelings known with reducers on Maupay during the match rather than wait behind the bike sheds for him post-match.
The guy busted his ass that game, came on late and tried to rescue it. Maupay did Leno dirty and Guendo was the only one who stood up for him. He crossed a line, no doubt. But at his age/maturity, one can have a bit of understanding. I’m sure you lot were all zen masters at 20 years old….
Yes, but that’s not why Guendouzi was excluded from the squad. If you read back, Arteta is barely critical of Guendouzi at all for that.
You probs have better info than me blogs, but all I’ve seen referenced are ill-defined “attitude problems.” If you google “Guendouzi + Arteta” they all reference the Brighton game…
@goonerd – I think it was the catalyst for something, but it wasn’t that incident itself which saw him excluded.
Fair enough. It’s certain by this point he’s stubborn and has an attitude. Shame though because he’s young and talented – and an asset of the club. Arteta should have have it in his locker to manage that asset well and preserve/maximize its value.
One of the reasons Wenger succeeded with the young ones was because he had no ego and didn’t feel threatened. Arteta seems to have ego (and perhaps hubris) in abundance. I don’t see the need to otherwise make examples of younger players while having endless patience for his favorites.
How did Arteta not manage the Guendouzi situation well? He’s on loan for the season. We haven’t sold him. Same goes for Saliba. In one case, it is “go and cool off”; in the other, it is “go and get more experience.” If those two don’t recognize the opportunity they have to play for Arsenal, and would rather take this opportunity to wiggle their way out to somewhere else, well so be it — do we really want to be a team made up of players that don’t want to be here, that can’t accept the structure and expectations in… Read more »
I always put it bluntly and get downvoted but people end up repeating same things. Arteta needed to free space for a new midfielder plus get another team pay one of our players.
Was it a catalyst…FOR CHANGE?
It was the petulance after the fact. Geundouzi stood his ground like a stubborn git and did not apologize to Arteta. It was a blatant challenge of authority, and Arteta, a new and relatively young manager, was still trying to stamp his authority. A challenge by one of the old guard like Ozil or Luiz would be one thing, but by a 20 yr old Geundouzi? I think he got made an example of – which in its way isn’t the best management.
Even if he is shit/a spoiled brat, the best way is to keep everything normal to keep hoa value. Now everyone knows that Arteta hates Guendouzi, who has 1 ear left in his contract, how much money do u think we are gonna get for him?
I am tired of people talking like accountants. In Wenger’s time there was just the ‘he doesn’t do defence/video’ gripe, now everyone has a million sticks to beat the manager with. When we didn’t have money it was that we don’t spend. Now, when we spend it’s why we wasting money. Arteta is not managing your daddy’s shop. Stop it. Focus on the play not the tabloid shit.
I’m tired of people putting Arteta on a pedestal. Willian at 32 on a three-year deal is criminal mismanagement. Saliba for €30m and playing U23s is criminal. I don’t see any cheap shots here. Nobody is writing #ArtetaOut. If you don’t agree on the merits, fine. But your fake outrage is a poor fig leaf for Arteta, about as effective as Saliba’s for his mate.
He’s our manager — why wouldn’t we want to raise him up, rather than tear him down?
Lol. Y’all are a dramatic bunch. Nobody’s tearing him down. Just don’t reflexively defend his every move. I want Arteta to succeed as much as the next guy.
But read the article: it is BANANAS that he + Edu extended David Luiz’ contract instead of giving this kid a chance. It’s inexplicable that he continues to play Willian.
I’m simply advocating an objective assessment of Arteta’s decision-making and the consequences for results and the squad.
Calling those decisions “criminal” is hardly providing an objective assessment. Why not try understanding the decisions as based on knowledge of the players and the squad that we simply do not have watching the TV and surfing the media waves, and that they are coming during a period of considerable upheaval at the club? Not sure Saliba would have been the right character to help lead us through the awful period we experienced this season; it frustrates us, and the player, but protecting him this season while we continue to transition is not poor management. Saliba can’t understand that now,… Read more »
Nobody’s tearing him down, and no one’s putting him on a pedestal either. Some people just want to give the guy some support, show me a manager that has never made a mistake in their career! He’ll be defended for things like winning the FA cup, getting the best out of Saka and Smith-Rowe, bringing in Partey, developing Holding into a decent defender (see that skill against Villa?!) Etc. But I won’t defend him for Willian, that is some surreal shit right there. And Auba’s decline, not sure if that’s down to Arteta but let’s say it is for the… Read more »
Not a million sticks, just a few, namely:
+ The obvious favoritism shown to certain players (probably dont need to say who right?)
+ The treatment of certain players who, if not used, can still bring money for reinvestment
+ The seeming stubbornness and slow ability to learn from mistakes
+ The inflexibility in using the squad (Arteta seems to be unable to improvise solutions to improve his imperfect players – read the Athletic recent article about Arsenal strikers)
Top post. Well said.
I think its fair to say that Saliba’s management has been absolutely horrendous and his gripes with our club and Areta are very well deserved. They other sticks are more of the “Ok, but..” sort. Favoritism to Willian? Ok, but you get a player who was one of Chelsea’s best players last season, and who is probably showing more in training than the dogshit we have to watch on tv. He is not a starter in the PL anymore so that’s something isnt it? Stubbornness and Inflexibility? Ok but it’s also Arteta’s most Wengerian quality, because its coupled with clarity… Read more »
‘Generational talents’? FFS.
+1
Guendouzi is hardly interesting to watch, much less an elite young talent.
Bruh…
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/erst-21-und-doch-schon-so-wichtig-fuer-hertha-bsc-matteo-guendouzi-ist-herthas-anfuehrer/26713992.html
Let me translate that for you: “Guendouzi is only 21 but so important for Hertha: Matteo Guendouzi is Hertha’s leader”
33 appearances in the PL under Emery in 2019/2020 (FYI there are 38 games in a PL season), keeping €30m Lucas Torreira on the bench
🤫
Hertha, the team which ahs lost 6 out of the last 8 matches (1 drawn). Great leadership.
And we’re sitting eleventh in the league… What’s that you were saying about leadership?
Guendouzi! Lol…second rate reserve team level faker with a bad attitude. Glad he’s able to establish himself in the mighty Hertha midfield. Lol. Look forward to selling the useless cnt.
lol u mad bro?
Guendouzi = 0 goals and 1 assist in the EPL for all that huffing and puffing. He is not an elite talent and I expect Arteta thought he could do better with less attitude elsewhere.
His 1 assist did come on a NLD if memory serves me right.
Generational talents? Steady on. Bit early for that,no?
Play Well, come back and become a legend!
Arteta will have to own his mistake, but he should focus on football from now on and keep his head down.
if arteta finishes in the bottom half , i hope hes sacked– a novice of a manager at a giant of a club—
unless we are happy with mid table mediocracy
get a proper coach in eg allegri– a league winner not just a cup specialist–
we play piss poor football most of the time at the moment and get turned over by most teams
The reality is if they stood by Arteta during a run that would have seen any coach at a top club anywhere else in the world be sacked, he’s here to stay. Seems pretty clear the club has decided Arteta has potential and similar to how a young player costs points, we’re willing to live with a pretty poor season as he learns. The team is playing better than it was and hopefully we can sneak into the CL via the Europa League. He and Edu should still take some heat for putting so many resources into older players- i.e.… Read more »
Kid needs to have a better counsel around him. If the news of him losing people close to him is indeed true, the club could have done a bit more. But at the end of the day he comes out as a player who is very much confident of his abilities and somewhat on lines of Ibra letting his head talk than having a better understanding of things around him. Also french media would love to prove he is right and how Arsenal are allowing Nice and him to do so many interviews, this has been a trend since his… Read more »
Pure speculation but it does make you wonder if he’s done something or said something to upset MA.
It just feels possible given Saliba’s less than diplomatic interviews and the boss’s intolerance of ‘attitude’.
Either way this guy is being well paid by us and should show some professional deference to the club’s decisions.
Saliba doesn’t live in China/Myanmar/Russia. He is entitled to speak his mind. Arteta can handle criticism – he’s a grown man.
Publicly slagging off your boss doesn’t tend to go down well here either
He’s not “slagging off his boss.” If he wanted to, he could start talking about how poor the team was playing before Christmas and that how Willian has been given game after game after game when he was only given two. He could call out Arteta’s claim that he didn’t register Saliba “to protect the player.” He hasn’t done any of that. He’s said that he felt “his boss” should have given hime more than two and a half games to prove himself, which is fair, and true. It only feels like “slagging his boss,” because in this instance, his… Read more »
I don’t disagree that the way it has been handled seems poor but repeatedly talking to the press about it saying this kind of stuff doesn’t seem very smart
No one saying he shouldn’t have opinions. Just not talk to the press about them when they potentially damage his club’s reputation.
I think he might have showed up pissed off about missing the French cup final, I would have been as well. It was petty of Arsenal.
We shouldn’t have had to pay them a bonus for allowing him the privilege of playing – especially when coming off an injury. It seems pretty clear they wanted the extra money – not William playing in the cup final.
That was (speculative) view I had as well.
Saliba was playing very well in the French league (and playing well again now).
We had financially invested heavily in him.
While he had big personal tragedy, seemed to me not playing football was making it worse than the protection that Arteta was claiming.
Why would he want to come back? He’s been mismanaged from start to finish and the only way the club is going to let him go is if the relationship is totally broken. He’s probably taking tips from Guendouzi to make sure that’s the case and he can leave. The club and manager are laughing stocks over what is happening with Saliba, Balogun is another one. Yet we will carry on playing fucking Luiz and Willian where Saliba and Nelson should be given their chance.
His media stories will be one SPICY BOI for the rest of the loan.
Saliba on his way to ending his Arsenal career even before it begins. What a shame
Who cares. Get rid.
I don’t think this is anything to get too worried about. It’s not like he has directly criticised Arteta, he’s just upset he didn’t get more time to prove himself, which is understandable.
He’s on a long contract and Nice wouldn’t be able to afford his transfer fee, so he’ll come back to us at the end of the season (assuming Arteta wants him).
This will all be forgotten if he integrates into the first team next season, and does well.
May I suggest you Google the player’s name – and check out the latest news…..
Are you referring to the leaked dressing room video? Weird and unfortunate, but nothing to do with whether he stays at Arsenal.
He behaved inappropriately. He posted a video of himself and a team mate having a jostle whilst they were both still minors. That’s both illegal and damaging to the club’s reputation. It’s got everything to do with whether or not he stays at Arsenal. His contract should be terminated for bringing the club and the game into disrepute. Well, back in the day, that’s what would have happened. Now, this club is run so pathetically that if Arteta welcomed him back tomorrow and gave him the captaincy and started bleating what a great role model he is for the club,… Read more »
I hadn’t heard when I commented before that they may be underage in the video, which obviously makes it much much worse for whoever is posting and viewing it.
I still don’t think it affects whether we keep Saliba. It was wrong to take the video and (presumably) share it with the dressing room, but he’s not the one who put it on the internet. And if Saliba was a kid when he filmed the video, it makes it more understandable that he would make a wrong decision.
You mean the dredged up click-bait vid from 4 years ago? That ‘latest’ news?
He posted it on Snapchat a few days ago. As a 19 year old Arsenal player.
Hello? Anyone at home….? Duh…….🤪
In that case, he should be taken to task – but what I read suggested that it was NOT him who had posted it?
Arteta didn’t include him in the registered squad but did include Mustafi. Mustafi, the horror show guy in the last year of his contract is ahead of Saliba, a 30m young guy who was touted as the future of our defense. Mustafi left for free in January while playing a few games. Saliba has 0 minutes for Arsenal. He is now player of the month for Nice, which doesn’t make him world class but I think it’s enough to think he could have played those Mustafi minutes at least. Dire management. I feel for Saliba, he wasn’t helped at all… Read more »
Apart for last paragraph I agree with you. I’m not in the Artets out brigade. But a lot of his choices about players selection and his comments about the reasons for them have been debatable. Saliba has been left in the ditch and is trying to protect himself. He should have been tried in the uefa league and could have done a better job than mustafi
The reaction of fans to his “attitude” is a bit much. He is being interviewed and is honestly responding. Arteta judged him far to quickly and made it about “protecting him”. No one was pleading he play every game, but it is abundantly clear he got fucked around. Should he be saying, “oh well it was a really great experience, and I loved my time there and I can’t wait to get out of Nice and back to Arsenal and prove myself” just to keep fans and coaches happy? I appreciated his honesty and actually giving forthright interviews. Puts a… Read more »
A level-headed approach would be not to do the interview…..
A level-headed approach would be to let the guy vent a bit and not take everything personally.