William Saliba has slammed Mikel Arteta over his lack of chances at Arsenal, claiming the manager only analysed him over two and a half matches.
The £15.3m-rated Frenchman spent the first half of the season turning out with the under-23s side as the Spaniard chose not to include Saliba in the first-team.
In an interview with French media, the Nice defender lashed out at the coach for his lack of inclusion into his plans in north London.
Saliba said: “He 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. The idea when you’re part of a team is a better feeling for me.” (via RMC Sport)
The central defender really does running his mouth over a situation that was most likely an error of judgement from the former Manchester City coach as opposed to an actual judgement over how good he is.
There’s no reason Saliba should still be taking offence to no being included in the first team set-up at the start of the season. If anything the former Saint-Etienne man should be thankful he was kept out of the firing line whilst the north London outfit hopelessly struggled.
Arsenal managed to win just four Premier League games out of their opening 14 as they struggled massively. Allowing the 19-year-old to watch from the sidelines was a whole lot better than feeding him to the blood-sucking vultures that are the Emirates Stadium fanbase.
Having the talented youngster continually run his mouth over the situation shows off just how poor his attitude seems to be. There’s no reason to carry on holding any grudges, instead, he should really focus on performing at a level which makes him one of the first names on the team sheet in N5 next season.
