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Former Arsenal captain William Gallas has called out William Saliba for his inconsistency compared to his peers in the French national team. Gallas was scathing in his review of the Arsenal defender and said that he might find it hard to make the starting lineup for France at the upcoming European Championship.
Saliba joined the Gunners from AS Saint-Etienne in 2019 and has been a constant for the north London side over the last two seasons, racking up 59 appearances in the league.
The Frenchman has started every league game this term and has recorded a league-high 14 clean sheets. He has also helped Arsenal maintain the best defensive record in the competition (26 goals conceded in 32 games).
Saliba has cemented his place in his club, but Gallas had some advice to help him do the same for France. In a recent interview with GFFN, the 2006 World Cup finalist explained why Saliba is not a guaranteed starter for the national team, saying:
"France have so many talented young centre-backs. It’s always the same question, though, and that is which one is going to be consistent? Which ones are going to be the starters?"
Gallas continued:
“Unfortunately, it’s difficult for William Saliba to be in the starting XI because you have Ibrahima Konaté from Liverpool and Dayot Upamecano from Bayern, and sometimes Saliba can be magnificent, but sometimes he can be a disaster as he’s not consistent."
Gallas concluded:
“That’s why it’s a big problem for Didier Deschamps to know exactly who is going to be the number one, or the partnership at centre-back! For every other country, Saliba would probably walk into the XI with ease, but with France, it’s different and that is very tough for him – especially as they have been so successful in recent years. We have some great young centre-backs in the French team, that’s for sure.”
Arsenal legend asks club to sign PSG star with X-factor
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has advised the club to sign Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) midfielder Vitinha in the summer. The Gunners lacked a cutting edge in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie against Bayern Munich and were knocked out of the competition.
Speaking on his podcast, the Wrighty's House, the Arsenal legend said:
“Do you know what I was saying, what I was alluding to a little bit. A player like Vitinha from PSG. I know what you’re saying about Odegaard and Rice, but you’re talking about someone with the X factor that we need. We have a load of good players, but that X factor, out of the blue, bang, we need to find that man.”
Wright scored 179 times for Arsenal in 278 appearances from 1991 to 1998, winning the Premier League title once and the FA Cup twice among other honours. The Englishman remains a beloved figure among the Gunners faithful.
