William Saliba was the width of the centre circle away from Jacob Ramsey when the midfielder was despatched by way of on objective late on at Villa Park. Someway, although, he made up the bottom, reeling him in in entrance of an expectant Holte Finish to brilliantly block his shot.
The fist-pumping Arsenal celebrations that adopted typified a “love for defending” highlighted by Mikel Arteta in dialog with Sky Sports activities in March. Such reactions are inspired, he defined, “so that defensive actions are valued as much as attacking ones.”
Arsenal definitely wanted that stage of defensive dedication on Saturday. Not simply within the closing levels, after Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey’s targets, however earlier within the half, when their field was beneath siege and the stadium crackled with anticipation.
Arsenal have been, in fact, indebted to David Raya for his sensational save from Ollie Watkins throughout that interval. Trossard’s opener, scored together with his first contact after coming off the bench, was essential too. Nevertheless it was Saliba who held all of it collectively, as he so typically does.
Final weekend’s win over Wolves had introduced an uncharacteristic error, his errant go virtually gifting Matheus Cunha a objective. However, together with his sharpness restored by one other week of coaching following a brief pre-season, this was the French worldwide at his greatest.
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Highlights from Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa
In an often-frantic sport, in opposition to an opponent, the solely opponent, who beat Arsenal twice within the Premier League final yr, Saliba was a totem of calm, touching the ball extra occasions than some other participant on the pitch and finishing all however considered one of his 88 passes.
As others erred within the feverish environment, speeding passes, miscontrolling beneath stress, or, within the case of his centre-back associate Gabriel, being dispossessed deep in Arsenal territory for a golden probability Watkins ought to have buried, Saliba was unaffected.
The gorgeous last-ditch problem to disclaim Ramsey was considered one of quite a few defensive interventions which caught the attention. Saliba made extra tackles and extra clearances than any of his team-mates over the course of the sport. No one on both facet gained extra duels.
William Saliba excelled in Arsenal’s win over Aston Villa
His velocity and physicality have been wanted in opposition to Watkins. “If they [Villa] put the ball in our last line and you’re man to man, you better be physical because it has to go our way,” smiled Arteta afterwards. However there may be intelligence to Saliba’s sport in addition to brute drive.
At occasions, he intervened with out even needing to make a problem, nudging Watkins other than an extended go earlier than ducking beneath the ball to let it run by way of to Raya, then nonchalantly stepping onto a Morgan Rogers cut-back as if it was a go from a team-mate.
Regardless of the one-on-one prowess of Rogers and Leon Bailey in Villa’s assault, and the driving runs of Amadou Onana from midfield, Saliba was not dribbled previous as soon as. Though that isn’t uncommon.
The truth is, Saliba has solely been crushed 11 occasions in 67 video games since he made his Premier League debut for Arsenal two years in the past.
It really works out as solely 0.16 cases of being dribbled previous per 90 minutes. For the reason that begin of the 2022/23 season, no Premier League defender, not even Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, can beat that.
It’s hardly stunning, given his high quality, that Arsenal have come to lean on him so closely. Their excellent defensive report final season was in fact a collective effort. However Saliba’s contribution, as their solely participant to play each minute of the marketing campaign, was large.
Their reliance on him proved pricey within the season earlier than that, when a again harm prompted him to overlook Arsenal’s last 11 Premier League video games of the marketing campaign and their title problem collapsed.
Their report with and with out him highlights his significance. Arsenal’s win price drops from 76.1 per cent to 45.5 per cent when he’s unavailable. They concede twice as many targets and permit their opponents roughly 30 per cent extra touches of their field.
At the same time as Saliba shone so brightly at Villa Park on Saturday, although, there was encouragement, within the type of two new faces in Arsenal’s defence, that their reliance on him might now be eased.
Jurrien Timber, spectacular at left-back after harm ruined his first season at Arsenal, is a pure centre-back who seems a high-calibre various. So too does summer season signing Riccardo Calafiori, who appeared from the bench to make his Premier League bow.
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Watch David Raya’s unimaginable save from Ollie Watkins from all angles
“I like what Timber did,” mentioned Sky Sports activities’ Gary Neville on the Gary Neville Podcast. “Leon Bailey is a difficult customer to play against and I thought he did a good job. And Calafiori, when he came on, looked combative, really strong and up for the fight.”
Like Saliba, and certainly his centre-back associate Gabriel, each Timber and Calafiori are succesful dominating opponents bodily. They’ve the flexibility to play at full-back but in addition give Arsenal a stage of centre-back depth to rival that of title rivals Manchester Metropolis.
“Pep Guardiola has completely transformed his team from being diminutive to being a team of giants and Mikel Arteta has responded,” added Neville. “They have been put beneath actual stress from set-pieces in these final 25 minutes they usually dealt with it very well. They’re a powerhouse staff now.
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Gary Neville provides his verdict on David Raya’s show in opposition to Aston Villa
“When you’re playing against a really top team and you need to keep a clean sheet, you need to make sure you’ve got someone who can defend at the back post, and you need to make sure that on set-pieces you’ve got six big’uns. Arteta has got that now.”
Most significantly, although, he has received Saliba, a participant who typifies that bodily dominance and whose efficiency at Villa Park was a reminder that he has cool-headedness and composure to match.
Even with Timber and Calafiori sharing the load, count on Saliba to proceed main Arsenal’s defensive celebrations.
