Mikel Arteta dismissed Arsenal’s William Saliba and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk’s comparison
Arsenal defender William Saliba has started the season in sublime fashion and has become a mainstay in the revitalised Gunners side ahead of the Premier League clash against Liverpool on Saturday.
Saliba has shown leadership qualities to maintain the defence and has shown his attacking instincts with two Premier League goals already to his name. For his recent performances, some Arsenal fans have compared the French defender to Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, with many deeming a stark resemblance between the two.
Saliba is being praised for his calmness and composure in defence, something very well attributed to Van Dijk. His physical frame also helps in that regard, with the towering Frenchman a considerable presence in both halves of the pitch on set pieces.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking in his pre-match press conference (h/t Liverpool Echo) was asked about what he made of the comparisons and the Spaniard had this to say:
“Wow, what a question!
He’s been very quiet but at the same time very confident. I’m really with where he is at the moment. He’s William Saliba, he’s no one else.”
Arteta is correct in his assessment that the defender should not be compared to anyone and be judged only for his performance.
Saliba, who joined Arsenal in 2019 but with multiple loan spells, only could establish himself in the Arsenal first-team and is far away from being a complete article like Virgil Van Dijk.
More than anything, it’s the experience which counts for a player and playing in high-tense situations results in raising the level. Saliba is still young and has to go through a lot more situations before coming into the argument of being on par with the best defenders of the world.
The French defender has certainly shown his ability as a professional player which is there for all to see. Now, it would be interesting to see how he raises his game upon the experiences he encounters.
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For now, let us hope that Saliba does not have a good game on Sunday as we cannot afford to lose to the league leaders Arsenal, which can stretch the gap between the two teams to a big fourteen points.
