Arsenal defender William Saliba slammed after France win: ‘His worst game for Les Bleus’
Arsenal centre-back William Saliba had an evening to forget as France sealed a 2-1 win over Belgium in the Nations League on Monday evening.
Saliba started alongside Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate at the heart of France’s defence and gave away a penalty in the 20th minute when he clattered into Belgium forward Lois Openda in an attempt to make a recovery tackle.
A VAR review did not rule against the referee’s initial on-pitch decision but Youri Tielemans stepped up and blazed his penalty over the bar.
Saliba then went on to lose the ball in his own half in the 29th minute to spark another attack for Belgium but Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku flashed his low shot wide of the goal.
France took the lead via a penalty from Randal Kolo Muani in the 35th minute after Wout Faes was penalised for elbowing the ball on the ground.
Saliba then gave the ball away again in a dangerous area moments before half time and on this occasion he was punished as Belgium regained possession, worked the ball quickly to the left flank where Timothy Castagne’s excellent cross was headed in by Openda.
France were more defensively solid after the break and Didier Deschamps’ men sealed their win as Muani got on the end of Lucas Digne’s cross to head past Koen Casteels.
However, Saliba received widespread criticism from the French media after the game, with the AFP’s Emmanuel Barranguet stating that the Arsenal defender had ‘played his worst match in Blue’.
Barranguet added: ‘He [Saliba] was better in the second half, but he was no longer the sovereign defender who had won his starting place at the Euros, at the expense of Ibrahima Konate.
L’Equipe described Saliba’s performance as ‘particularly awkward’.
Both Sud Ouest and Le Figaro rated Saliba’s performance a measly 3/10, while Eurosport France said it was a ‘painful evening for the Arsenal defender’.
Speaking after France’s win, Deschamps admitted that France’s defensive errors whilst in possession were a concern from the opening 45 minutes.
‘We were shaken up for 20-25 minutes where they put a lot of intensity while we made a lot of technical errors when we recovered the ball,’ Deschamps said.
‘When we were able to find solutions going forward, it was better for us. It’s good for us that they missed a penalty even if we shouldn’t concede this goal where we line up high.’
‘We were on tiptoe. We had fewer ball losses after but we wanted to drive the ball instead of making a simple pass. We did well in the first period.’
Asked what he told his France players after their poor first half, Deschamps said: ‘We had to shake them up without shaking everyone. In relation to what we said, and what the players had said.
‘But it was mainly the mistakes, we had to calm down.
‘We had to go forward and press hard. Of course they had chances but so did we in the second half. We are perhaps happy to win this match, perhaps by force and with ten men. We did better even if it was not difficult in the second half.
‘It’s a young team that doesn’t have much experience. There was seriousness and enthusiasm in this gathering. It’s better to win this kind of match. In the group we leave them with four points and that’s good.’
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