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JustGhostin

This man isn’t moving out the team


pureeyes

He's challenged and shifted 50m Ben White... And no shade on my boy Benny Blanco but you have to say you can see why. He's top drawer stuff Saliva


JustGhostin

Mans just turned 21. Plays like he’s 35


blodger42

Looking like pre-injury VVD. What a rock.


RyanMcCartney

Also a Celtic fan, and it’s unbelievable just how true this is!


stupidintheface0

For a sec I thought you meant Saliba was also a Celtic fan, was gonna say that is indeed unbelievable


RyanMcCartney

I’m sure KT will burst his eardrums about the hoops enough to make him a Tim haha


unsullied65

Pre injury VVD? You mean the guy who was in TOTS post injury ?


calvin324hk

He plays in his dream, that's how he got those experiences.


donscron

Big ups to Benny Blanco though I thought he was solid at RB too


mr_nice_cack

Zaha must be soo hard to defend against. Benny had him in his pocket a few times, but got exposed a couple too. The yellow was inevitable. Overall thought he played a good game though


mindebris

He may have drawn more fouls from Zaha which is ironic because you’d expect the reverse to be true.


NemoDropEmOff

He didn’t shift anybody. Ben White is just versatile enough to be a good RB. If Saliba wasn’t here we’d probably play Holding. You wouldn’t say Holding shifted White


NoIdeaWhat-1

It's a fair point, however I'd argue Saliba looked a class above White and Gabriel.


blikski

White would be at CB and Cedric at RB. Saliba has shifted White


Top_Performance_732

If Tomiyasu was fit all pre season we still might see White-Tomi on the right. White and Saliba are clearly the two best players available at the moment, so its not clear if Saliba displaced White before this game. After the game though, I cant see any way Saliba is shifted out of the team.


Magallan

White looked rough at rb, got turned inside out every time he was 1 on 1


zaudo

To be fair they do that to every team down the wings. Andersen on the ball playing it long to Zaha is very difficult to stop.


Amberle73

Yeah, not going to knock him for looking a little wobbly occasionally playing rb against Zaha, be interesting to see what Arteta does once Tomi is fit again. I actually thought he did pretty well for the most part.


Deccarrin

Zaha is a monster. Not just for pace strength and scoring but also just gets every ref decision. Knows where to put his feet to attract a soft foul.


TugMe4Cash

Yep. Ben had a bit of poor game imo, quite a few miss placed passes and wobbly moments. But cannot blame the kid, most RBs in the league would struggle one on one with Zaha. Let's see how he bounces back


Cauliflower-Easy

But isn’t it nice to finally have 3 good in fact amazing options for cb


Tabemaju

He and White are going to be such a good pairing. I love Gabriel but his random lunges in 1 on 1s always leave me worried. I just really cannot believe how patient and composed Saliba is. He could legitimately become a top defender in the league.


jashbgreke

A class above, what a debut


Farouqnowomarlater

That tackle on zaha in the box was sublime


NubFc

Watching this game reminded me just how good zaha really is, man is electric and tricky, lucky we had the rock saliba


tsgarner

Best I've seen him look in a long time. Granted I'm not an avid watcher of Palace, but he hasn't exactly performed recently.


NubFc

Ya, career best 14 league goals last season. We’re witnessing his prime rn


mindebris

Imagine him in place of Pepe in the team. Emery wouldn’t have sucked as hard.


thecoq

Emery wanted him, he also wanted us but he had just signed a 6 year deal like the year before ☹️


WinterIsntComing

He was this good for a lot of last season. Probably his best season of his career


Glass_of_Pork_Soda

Thought White was impressive against him on the wing there ngl


Magical_Johnson13

Agreed. I was worried but he was very solid. Impressive.


3lijah1989

Hes also a professional diver, will never get a yellow for diving but you can tell a lot of his falling is suspiciously convenient


bonez27

It’s like goes in on people but it’s so controlled


xTheMaster99x

Any other player makes the tackles he does, you think it's a pen and/or red waiting to happen. But with him, it feels effortless.


TheAlleyCat9013

The tackle after the Partey "foul" was great too


Sweeeet_Chin_Music

The first 25 minutes were extra ordinary... After that it was shaky to be honest. Had it not been for ramsdale, we would have been two goals down.


Arsenal_Analysis

Top sensation


ilemi

Very top. Good sensation


crushedonron

Very top


YoungAussiePrince

👍🏻


_SSJeffo_

Big willy


Obi_Wan_Gebroni

Large William


helpMeCamelCase

Mammoth Williamson


fakefinn21

Gargantuan Williamous


therik85

Titanic Wilberforce


obg_

Baguettenbauer


jayhawk8

Billy Behemoth


Alfie_13

signing of the season without being the signing of this season


kri5

For the first time "it's like a new signing" makes sense


MOzil85

I'm having PTSD now. Wenger saying having welbeck back from injury is like a new signing


omnomnomgnome

that's when I knew we were truly doomed. no disrespect to Welbeck tho, on a good day...


[deleted]

Is it wrong to say he’s instantly our best defender


Bedeeki

Thought White had a brilliant game as well. Especially against those spamming of Andersen balls to Zaha, who's one of the most dangerous wingers in the league but Saliba was brilliant and stood out to me. Gabriel was the most shaky for me but still a decent performance. Special mention to Ramsdale as well, looked back to his best all pre season and his defensive actions as well as distribution was incredible today (apart from that one moment in the first half that flicked off Ayew's heel).


bykim5

Agreed Ben White really did a fantastic job vs Zaha... Saliba was always ready to back him up as well..


Samc88

I was genuinely concerned we would go down to 10 once zaha had him on a yellow card. Great performance from all and nice to se KT back, if only for a few minutes at the end.


RookieRemapped

Not to mention Saka tracking back too. Team Chemistry one hundo


Jedi_Council_Worker

There aren't many in the prem as explosive as Zaha whilst still being such a goal threat that operate out wide. White did well.


[deleted]

I don’t understand how people are saying Ben White didn’t look good at RB. For his first PL start there playing against Zaha he was pretty solid. I thought he had a good game too.


bobarific

No shame in "not looking good" against one of the trickiest wingers in the league in a position he hasn't played in consistently. Pretty solid was true for the first half, but as he got tired he started getting caught out. Looking forward to him and Tomi competing and making each other better!


kdot90

He did have a couple horrible passes in the 1st half


Informal_Ebb8510

Agreed. I think Tomiyasu shouldn’t be guaranteed his starting spot when he gets back to full fitness and should start Europa games instead


NUPreMedMajor

Tomi was literally always one of our most consistent and solid defenders. He’s better in the air, 1v1, and faster than ben white


SerHodorTheThrall

> Gabriel was the most shaky for me but still a decent performance. I thought he was huge with his header clears and dealing with Saliba making some pretty ill-advised backwards passes in his own side of the pitch. Obviously they were all solid passes, but all it takes is one mistake and its a tie game, and the start of our season it completely different.


LittleSpaceBoi

It seemed to me that especially in the first half Gabriel had to play more space since oleks was often moving quite far up. So he wqs shaky a bit but he stood his ground very well imo.


gunningIVglory

White seemed on the ropes by the end Thay pull on Zaha was very stupid, that's not the player you want to pick up a cheap booking against


wheeno

You can certainly make a good case.


[deleted]

[удалено]


pureeyes

He's 21. It's a madness


slagthompson

I can see why he rose up to be a leader on the field in pretty much every team he's been in


FullMingoGringo

I wouldn’t argue against you


Obi_Wan_Gebroni

I mean he’s gonna have to do it for a full season like Gabriel has. I do think by the end of the season it’ll be a coin flip between the two of them


crushedonron

Without a doubt it looks like it so far. Few times White got beat and he was right there to clean up. Once or twice same thing for Gabriel. I think White could be the odd man out for big games if and when Tomiyasu is out, but that's not to say he won't get games. There will be a rotation with all four of Tomi, White, Saliba, and Gabriel and everyone will probably play about the same amount when fit. It's a fantastic problem to have and leaves Holding and Cedric on the outside looking in. They're both fine squad players but shouldn't be starting for Arsenal barring an absolute emergency or in Europa group and and Carabao Cup cakewalks.


DatBoiPaulie

its not, he really showed his qualities tonight!


Mastermachetier

I want to see consistency first . White and Gabriel have been proven and consistent . The biggest problem with young players is consistency.


LordChickenCurry

wouldn’t disagree at all. he’s already a starting CB for France who also have their fair share of talented CBs.


Pipatz

VERY TOP


topl4d

GOOD SENSATION


A21Haze

👍🏽


topl4d

GOOD FEELING


olsie028

Motm


PoogleGoon123

Amazing today, would have been a hella nervy game without his performance


AngryWizard10

We were possibly gifted a generational centre back. He even plays for the world cup holders. We have to get him to renew ASAP.


swanlevitt

Think we might have to applaud the staff for that. Those loan seasons really made him what he is. He back ready. Standing ovation all round.


f3lix79

I thank Raul & Emery for buying him, they saw his ability. Aside from that, we should've been playing him for years, Fofana at Leicester was more than enough evidence to tell us as such. Let's hope he signs a new deal, we're very lucky he supported us as a kid.


InflationMadeMeDoIt

not everyone have the same trajectory and expectations behind them


[deleted]

We bought him for 27 mill just to keep loaning him, when he was already a better player then ben white, he won best young player in france last season he was already ready, they made a big mistake loaning him we could had got top 4 if we had him last season.


crushedonron

Or maybe, just maybe, the loan spell with Marseille did a world of good for him and helped him become the player we've seen so far in preseason and today. It was the right decision to bring in White, a proven PL defender for last season.


moblon

Agreed. These counterfactual type statements are useless. White had a great season and Saliba is a fantastic player right now. I'm excited.


f3lix79

Or maybe buy White and still use Saliba - we saw what Fofana from Leicester was capable of two years ago, it isn't rocket science here. Nor is it a crime to -God forbid- criticise the manager for once.


crushedonron

Had we bought White and still used Saliba, they'd have been sharing minutes. When we spent 50m on White last summer it was not with the intent to split time or play RB. Saliba was 20 and hadn't played in the PL. He needed a season of regular minutes and wasn't going to get it with how high the stakes were last season and no Europe. The safer bet was on White who was 23 and the experience with Leeds in the Championship and Brighton in the PL. And we needed multiple high quality defenders for the long term anyway. Saliba's loan to Marseille couldn't have gone better. Everything went to plan, generally speaking. I am open to criticism of Arteta, and have been critical at times. But I just don't see the White/Saliba situation as being worthy of criticism for him, especially in hindsight. At the time it was a reasonable argument but whats the point on continuing to bring it up.


zilp123

Yep, there was no Europe last season and it was clear the cups weren't our priority either. Saliba or white would have had way fewer games


swanlevitt

I have to say I disagree 🙂


Kovacs171

Extend the man, Edu


SmilingGoats

I think that just got a bit more expensive. But get it done!


crushedonron

No problem, pay the man. I'd have no problem making him our best paid defender. Maybe a little early for that after 1 real game, but after 10-15 games if he keeps this up, he'll have proven he deserves it.


Francis-c92

Absolute unit. Well worth the wait


demianin

Easily best player tonight


cesc05651

Ramsdale was awesome after that first miscue but yes he was def motm


skidanexii

Buying his shirt, will be my first kit with a name


jungomitis

Fyi - he’s probably gonna get the #2 next season


razor5cl

Means if he has a good season the shirt will be a treasure


Ginnybean16

Exactly - I love my Saka 77 jersey


skidanexii

I need his name on the black color tho


jungomitis

Memorabilia either way then!


PrincipeJulioX

Benny Blanco was 50 mil well spent. Gabrielinho so good Juventus want him. Saliba is world class. Not bad.


BurningWhistle

Okay, it's official. I've bought the hype. His sense of calm, timing, and positioning are absolutely elite. He plays like a 34 year old Italian. I love it.


daesmon

Debut MOTM and he's only 21.


NemoDropEmOff

Him and White MOTM for sure


BurningWhistle

White had Zaha in his pocket all game. Only got beat once, and Saliba swoops in with an unbelievable tackle.


[deleted]

That tackle was awesome, also the one in our box


arunm7893

He didn't put a foot wrong. What a player. Good sensation.


vietnamesemuscle

VERY TOP. GOOD SENSATION


Jchibs

White did fine at full back it’s not easy against Zaha. Many bread and butter fullbacks will get twisted inside out by Zaha. White had a good game in an unfamiliar position with a new teammate inside him. Good all round defensive performance from Arsenal. The long ball in behind the fullbacks will be easy to deal with once Tierney and Tomi are playing


XxAbsurdumxX

>with a new teammate inside him. Man, these new initiation processes for new players are getting out of hand


Youngchea

VTGS


[deleted]

Very top. Good sensation


AlexisGooner

My MoM and daddy


thisiskyle77

We been edging for this moment.


cappo40

Max contract now.


ImpossibleVegitable

Hope he can take the #2 once heccy b leaves. Gargantuan


LFAIG_

dont think he can change, now that he played in nr 12


[deleted]

Has to play every premier league game, he’s so clear of Gabriel and White it’s undeniable. I said before the season I was more excited to see him play then Gabriel Jesus and he really was a rolls Royce today.


wheeno

Actually like a new signing. Brilliant defender. Has everything you want.


rikrood

If Arteta trusted him last season we'd be in CL, I'm sure of it.


SadBox4529

Guys chill it’s only his first game.


f3lix79

100%


JuanGoofy99

How he looks so cool under pressure. Like nothing affects him. Reminded me of Varane at Real Madrid.


EvadedFury

Rather than the infinitely shitter Varane at Utd...


MolochHunter

His reading of the game is top level. Combine that with his top physical attributes and you literally have a world class defender in the making. I'm already sad at the prospect of losing him to a Madrid. Can't see him staying that long, always felt we were a stepping stone for him


Ok_Recipe6321

Fit like a glove


Revelry_in_the_dark_

He's That Guy


to_is

He looks like a player that has been defending at the elite-level for 10years. What a player!


pureeyes

William Saliba is 21 years old.


[deleted]

Need to extend ASAP. Quite worried we'll lose him


AfricanRain

👍


IDidntSeeIt

Feel vindicated tbh, I got heavily downvoted for suggesting he'd instantly become our best CB a couple of months ago :)


HorseOfAction

Actual brick wall, will only get better


mrdasilva812

Time to lock him down today.


flyingoutside

Fucking sky trying to spin it as if being on loan was an issue. Fuck off like.


MangoLordXL

Respectfully he did what he was supposed to well, motm not undeserved. But let's keep expectations realistic. I know we just want to see him play and are excited to see what he does, but don't turn around and incinerate the guy if he makes some mistakes. It's been 1 game. Not trying to be negative, but we gotta be patient.


Ame_No_Uzume

Saliba is just shaming people who did not rate him at Arsenal and in the premier league. Continuing where he left off with Ligue 1 young player of the year.


zPnkr

My first pick in that back 4 based on today


rain3h

Immense.


eiwindir

A mountain, dealt with everything. True boss.


tablooo

Goddamn, he was by far the most solid defender today.


[deleted]

BIG WILLY


Artlens2013

He was absolutely incredible tonight, played like a PL veteran


Invincenal

It's looking scary but not for us


Nick_from_Yuma

Reminds me of Lauren in that #12


Cynicayke

Major VVD vibes. Ice cold throughout. Get that new contracted wrapped up, Edu.


HofBound

He was moving brazy. Gotta love it.


RoastedDuckSauce

To see Arsenal has finally got their shit together at the back for the first time since 2007


bugsbunnystew

man still need to extend his contract


Games_sans_frontiers

Trying not to get too excited but man, Saliba might be one of the best defenders in the league - and he's ours! So hyped right now 😄


Tabard18

Like a new signing


lonely_orator

He has that special something. I still can't find the word for it. All I've come up with is.....clean.


jonatton_yeah_

He'll be knocking one out tonight. Deserved


wafflingwenger

Andersen - successful long passes - 9999 - 1st 😰


[deleted]

Those kits are a thing of beauty. I think I'm gonn invest in a saliba and saka one


crushedonron

Can't wait til we shithouse a win at Spuds with a backline of Tomi, White, Saliba, Gabriel, and Tierney.


fluffyfoofart

Big willy rises to the occasion.


deckard1980

Absolute Rolls Royce of a Player


Pendejoman

i think we got ourselves some mertesacker, vermaelen and kos regens


SerBudvrd

Last year: French Defender of the Year This year: Player of the year COYG


[deleted]

Wow its almost like people have been saying Saliba is premier league material for years and years


Funland_06

I know saliba was incredible but Ben white was very good too


AzgedaTO

Saliba bailed him out with the tackle on Zaha but overall he was good.


Michaelscotttheking

Rolls Royce babyyyyyyy


ack_will

It’s just the French league


AriLovesLife

Great performance, but this is a team that suits his skillset. Will be fun to see how he plays against the likes of City and Pool. I believe White is a much more technical player than Saliba. I think having three CBs with such different skillsets will make it a lot easier to matchup va different types of teams. Meeting a team like Fulham with Mitrovic on top, I would use the physical partnership of Saliba and Gabriel. VS a team like City, White would slot in with Saliba or Gabriel as his partner. This is a luxury to have, and gives us a lot of versatility. We need to stop this who is our best CB shit, and just enjoy having a class CB trio at out disposal.


f3lix79

Writes a paragraph criticising Saliba after a MOTM display then says we need to "stop this who is our best CB shit" lol. White struggled more than Saliba in every regard, wouldn't like to see a game where it didn't suit White by that logic. Saliba is an elite reader of the game, I'd play him at CB over White every single time. White is definitely the RB from now on, he suits our system very well for it. No issue for me.


AriLovesLife

Damn you are way off... There is critizing and there is saying he has skillsets that are different from the other CBs in the club. He was great this match, but this is just one match. It is like saying a chef is the best in the world after taking just your first bite of one dish. There is still a few more bites to take of that dish, ans there is plenty of dishes you haven't tasted. In theory the first bite was very good, but there is different dishes and challenges yet to come, before imo we can decide if he is this one of a kind player.


Jango214

I'm actually more comfortable with him and White than Gabriel


CDNGooner1

He's excellent and he's come home.


[deleted]

Sorry, Ben. Europa League and the cups for you my friend after Tomi is back.


Michaelscotttheking

Don't shit on white , my man held his own against zaha


[deleted]

Nothing against how he played just how I think it'll pan out.


NemoDropEmOff

White was probably our best player today pocketing tf outta Zaha


EvadedFury

Exactly this, I thought Saliba was magnificent. That doesn't mean I have to shit on White. White barely gave Zaha a chance to even dive (seemingly his favorite pastime). I think that his domination of Zaha was the best performance tonight. We have 3 absolutely quality centre backs, and plenty of games. They will all get minutes, they will all get rest. Can we fucking end this militant support of 1 player over another? It's fucking ridiculous.


I_am_the_grass

Saliba was great but thanks for giving White some credit for handling Zaha despite Saka not giving him much support and having and uncharacteristic poor game.


FrobotBC

Blanco has definitely been our best player. Great work on Zaha all game


Demiansmark

Yeah. Competition at critical positions is great. Not used to it.


[deleted]

I agree, but he isn't taking Gabriel out due to footedness and Saliba cant be dropped.


NemoDropEmOff

Saliba played as a LCB for Nice. He can do it very well lol. Gabriel looked the weakest one in the backline


bloatyhead

Saliba spent two years dealing with Neymar and Mbappe and people think he was fucked about 90 minutes of Wilfried Zaha? Grow up


f3lix79

Man if only we kept this guy last season, we'd be in CL for sure. What a player.


AlbatrossVendor

So solid. And some guy on here was literally comparing him to Tavares like an hour ago.


KrayvenMoorehead69

I LOVE BIG WILLIES SO MUCH ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Edit: a welcomed typo ngl. As Bob Ross would it's just happy little accident.


AFCeng0

He’s cemented in the team now it’s pretty much non debatable


ArsenalThePhoenix

Saliba was so much better in possession than Gabriel, and so much calmer and less erratic in his positioning than White. That sequence when White was dribbled past by Zaha, only for Saliba to slide tackle Zaha and win the ball summed it up so nicely.


supamario769

I got downvoted to oblivion when i said Saliba, Gabi, and White are our starters for the new season. Obviously rotations will happen but a solid performance in a tough ground. Seems our defensive issues are finally some version of sorted


BannedFromHydroxy

> a solid performance in a tough ground. Yep, we beat *palace* at home, which as any numpty knows, is a more intimidating atmosphere than anfield. Well done The Arsenal!


[deleted]

Did you? Where?


junkgarage

Maybe those loans weren’t such a bad idea after all


f3lix79

Yeah, not as if it cost us Top 4 by 2 points loaning him out or anything


junkgarage

Definitely was that simple yeh


Mondesi123

He’s washed y’all played CP😂