William Saliba is fit and available for Arsenal’s Champions League trip to Slavia Prague, and Mikel Arteta says the only question left is when the team needs him.
Arteta spoke in Prague on Tuesday evening, the night before the matchday four game at the Fortuna Arena (8pm UK time on Wednesday). William Saliba has not played for Arsenal this season after hurting his back at the World Cup with France, but he trained on Tuesday morning before the squad flew out, and he played 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors game last week.
That is a step on from where things stood on Monday. In our Slavia Prague vs Arsenal preview, Wednesday looked likely to come too soon for him. Now the Frenchman is in the squad conversation like everyone else.
Is William Saliba fit to face Slavia Prague?
Yes. Arteta was clear that the 25-year-old’s recovery has gone to plan, which he admitted is rare with this kind of injury.
He said: “He’s in a really good place. I think the process and the timings and the manner that he’s been dealing with, and especially the feelings that he’s been having along the way, have been very, very positive. So, his evolution has been as expected, which is not always the case.”
He added that Saliba “feels ready to go” and that whether he plays is “a matter of what the team needs.”
Why there was no operation
Saliba avoided surgery, and Arteta explained that the decision came from the specialists, not from him. “They got some of the best leading people in the world with the injury that he had, and at the end they decided that the conservative way was the best route for him, especially with the history that William had,” he said. Every step was assessed week by week and month by month until he reached this point.
Why a centre-back can’t come back in small doses
This was the most interesting part of what Arteta said. A winger or a number nine can be eased back with 20 minutes off the bench. A centre-back usually can’t.
“Now you are in or not. Now he’s in, and he’s in like anybody else,” Arteta said. “He’s a centre-back, and when that’s the case, it’s not like an attacking midfielder or a nine that you can change. A centre-back normally has to be able to play 90 minutes, and that’s why all the preparation that we’ve done to build him.”
Read that closely and it explains the slow build. The staff measured every load so that when Saliba does come back, he can last a full game rather than need protecting. Arteta also described him as “very desperate and very loved”, a player who “creates something special” every time he is around the group, and who did his rehab work quietly.
Saliba, Konsa and Gabriel: a problem or a luxury?
Asked how he will fit Saliba, Ezri Konsa and Gabriel into one back line, Arteta would not call it a problem. He said Arsenal have not had that luxury so far, and that a fit trio lets him manage the loads far better than he has been able to. He pointed out that Konsa can play at full-back as well as on either side of a centre-back pairing, and that Saliba can do the same. We looked at how Konsa’s form changes that picture in our piece on Konsa, Saliba and Arsenal’s centre-back choice.
Arteta on Max Dowman after Fleetwood
The red card at Fleetwood Town means the 16-year-old is banned for three domestic games, but he is free to play in Europe, on the same ground where he made Champions League history last season. Arteta said starting him is “a matter of a choice from my side”, and that the Fleetwood night is “a chapter that is gone.”
He was open about how he handled the teenager after his honest words in public last week. “I sit down with him and I just say, have you seen my press conference? What do you think? Just honest with him,” he said. Arteta added that the squad have looked after Dowman, and that learning to deal with this kind of moment is something he will face “three or four times per game”, so he has to master it.
We had Dowman starting on the right in our Arsenal predicted lineup vs Slavia Prague, and nothing Arteta said changes that view.
Zubimendi, shirt pulls and a nod to Trpišovský
On Martin Zubimendi, who has not played as much as he would like, Arteta called him “an unbelievable player for us” who has been unlucky, first with his ankle and then with his nose. Arteta said Mikel Merino and Zubimendi need to keep feeling important, because players coming in off the bench have produced big moments, which matters when you play every 72 hours.
Asked whether referees might now swing the other way on shirt-pulling after Sunday’s game at Anfield, Arteta said he has “a massive library” of clips of shirt pulls and grabs that he could share to remind everyone what every team goes through.
He also said he watched last season’s win over Slavia Prague back twice, calling them a really good, extremely well-coached team with clear principles. Jindřich Trpišovský has been in charge for almost 10 years, and Arteta called his work “remarkable”.
Arteta opened the press conference by sending the club’s condolences to the family and loved ones of Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, and to Tenerife, after his death.
Verdict: Saliba’s return is about Hull and beyond, not just Prague
Our read is that Saliba’s first minutes could come in Prague or against Hull City at the Emirates on Saturday, before the international break, depending on how Arteta wants to share the load. But the bigger point is the one Arteta made himself: when Saliba comes back, he comes back fully. With Konsa in form and Gabriel there too, Arsenal suddenly have three centre-backs for a run of games every 72 hours, and that is a nice headache for a side already top of the Premier League.
