Arsenal star William Saliba and his France teammates had a night to forget against Croatia in the Nations League.
The Gunners defender is one of the best in the business. He has been sensational under Mikel Arteta almost every time he has played and is adored by Arsenal supporters.
But, Saliba’s performances for France, especially when he plays alongside Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate, haven’t quite been up to the mark.
That was once again the case in Split on Thursday night.
French media slam Arsenal star William Saliba
France were nowhere near good enough against Croatia on Thursday night.
Zlatko Dalic’s side were on the front foot from the start and even won a penalty after Konate’s handball inside the box. Les Bleus survived as Andrej Kramaric missed his spot kick.
But, the 2018 World Cup winners did not wake up.
Saliba was at fault for Croatia’s opening goal. The Arsenal man allowed Ante Budimir to get in front of him and direct a header goalwards.
The header was straight at Mike Maignan in goal, but the ball still found the back of the net after an initial half-save.
After the game, France’s media outlets had a go at Saliba for his performance.
GFFN gave him a 4/10 rating and wrote: “Caught napping, the Arsenal defender was largely at fault for the opening goal as he failed to track the run of Ante Budimir allowing the forward to escape in behind him and head home unmarked. He never looked convincing alongside Konate at the heart of the defence.”
Eurosport rated him 3/10 and said: “Like Konaté, he suffered as rarely against Budimir and played backwards throughout the first period. He is trapped behind his back on the opener and will have given off an impression of excitement which does not resemble him in the image of his direct cross into the opponent’s feet. A less complicated second half, which is mainly explained by the nature of the match.”
So Foot also gave Saliba a 3/10 rating and wrote: “Runs like a panic on every action. And at the same time, there is panic over every action.”
William Saliba’s stats for France vs Croatia
Saliba will be very disappointed with the way he allowed Budimir to get in front of him for Croatia’s opener.
The Arsenal man definitely had a better game than his partner Konate, but his standards are a lot higher than those of the Liverpool man, so he will not be happy.
However, statistically, Saliba’s numbers look very decent, so much so that Sofascore have rated him higher than any other France defender.
In his 90 minutes on the pitch, Saliba had 92 touches of the ball and completed 73 of his 82 attempted passes, maintaining a healthy 89 per cent passing accuracy.
The 23-year-old also made four clearances and two tackles, and he even won four of his six attempted duels.
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