Arsenal centre-back William Saliba had a rough day on the pitch for France in the 1-3 defeat to Italy in the Nations League.
It was a rare blip from a player who has performed so well for the Leus Blues in the Euros 2024 campaign. The 23-year-old was named in the team of the tournament due to his superior defensive display.
However, the fans witnessed the French being put to the swords by Luciano Spalletti’s men. It is not a good sight for any world-class defender to have three goals go past you.
Saliba wasn’t the worst performer out there, but the French media were highly vocal about his mistakes in the match against the Gli Azzurri.
French outlets reveal their ratings for Saliba for France vs Italy clash
Eurosport gave him a 4/10 rating and stated that he could have done better to avoid those goals. They wrote:
‘Cleaner and more confident than his teammates in his interventions, he sometimes held the fort. But beyond his sometimes useless mistakes, what did he do on the third goal where he seemed to be able to clear the danger? An error that tarnishes his performance.’
Likewise, Maxifoot weren’t too generous as well, as they gave Saliba a 4/10 rating. They wrote:
‘After his great Euro 2024, the French central defender did not shine in this match. Like his team, he was in difficulty after the break, notably being caught on Raspadori’s goal.’
French magazine FootMercato gave the worst rating of 3, due to the Arsenal star’s inability to understand the markings. They said:
‘Like Konate, the Arsenal defender misunderstood the individual marking. It was less obvious than on the Konate-Clauss side, but he was much less calm than during the last Euro, where he was a revelation for the Blues.’
A rare setback in Saliba’s fantastic start to the season
Don’t get us wrong over here; these ratings are based on yesterday’s performance only. The Arsenal star centre-back has otherwise been superb for France. No doubt he is a great talent, and the defeat against Italy was just a one-off.
Saliba has been a solid defensive wall for the Gunners since joining them from Saint-Etienne. Being Mikel Arteta’s most used player, he is now raising his bar for Les Blues since his debut in 2022.
France are favourites to win the World Cup in two years, and the 6’4’’ star is expected to lead the back line.
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The player should keep this setback behind him and turn the tide by throwing a colossal performance in the North London derby next week.
