You can say that he's a 19 year old CB with potential but he's not had a single opportunity to show what he's about, for the first team. Mustafi and Luiz had chance after chance to play, despite consisting us goals and points but the most highly rated CB in French football (one which Saint-Étienne were gutted to see leave) can't even make the bench for a team that needs to improve defensively? You can't say he's not ready when he hasn't even had a chance to show it. I'd rather have given Saliba a chance to show that he is ready then continue keeping games to Mustafi, who is a heartbeat away from something stupid. If Saliba's performances showed that he wasn't ready then at least it can be said with certainty, and an appropriate loan arranged.Gunnerz4life wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:41 amThe idea that Arteta has some of kind of an issue with young players is far fetched. There were obvious attitude issues with Guendouzi which goes far beyond having a bit of a spike. There were issues between him and the coaching staff in Dubai and whatever happened after the Brighton game and his refusal to apologise was the last straw. I don't think any manager would take such sh*t from a young player who has achieved f*ck all. Hell Arteta didn't even spare Auba and publicly slandered him for lack of discipline (wrongly in my opinion).
There is a lot is sympathy for Saliba among fans and rightfully so but none of us have seen him play enough to make a judgement on whether he is good enough. The fact that we paid close to 30 million on a 19 yr old center back is not Arteta's fault and that kind of fuels the outrage. No one would think twice if Saliba was just another player with potential being sent out on loan.
Nelson, Eddie, AMN have been given enough chances and most agree they are just not good enough.
I agree that Arteta has got it wrong with Martinelli and there is no justification to play Willian and Auba (from the left) over him but I see Martinelli as a player with a lot of raw talent but who is not a finished article yet. Its still early days to make a judgement that Arteta doesn't fancy him.
You just need to look at the minutes that Saka and ESR got last season to know that young players will be given a chance if they are good enough. There was in fact over reliance on Saka.
He didn't get a single opportunity from the start of the season until he went on loan in January. Not even a place on the bench. He then went on loan to Nice in January and WALKED into their team. He won January's player of the month award for them and, at the end of the season, was nominated for Ligue 1's team of the year.
So, after a successful loan spell with Nice surely he'd have the opportunity to play a role in the Arsenal set-up? No. Another loan to another French team. It's pretty farcical, to be honest with you.
Even if you're thinking "he's a young CB who's never played in the PL before, so the loans make sense," let me point your memory to Saliba's former Saint-Étienne's teammate, Wesley Fofana. He was 19 when he signed for Leicester, played 28 times in the league and 6 times in the Europa League and had a very good season. If Leicester can give Fofana a chance, in the same circumstances, why can't Arteta give Saliba a chance? Particularly when you consider that Saliba is rated higher than Fofana.
Your comment that "it's still early days to make a judgement that Arteta doesn't fancy" Martinelli ignores the games in which Arteta didn't bother bringing him on, or didn't even start him. We know he came back from a long-term injury but there were a few games in the EL that he should have started. There were many instances where he could have come off the bench, or done so sooner, to create chances and try and score goals. We all know the talent and ability that he has, but Arteta doesn't even try to utilise him.
Nketiah has had countless chances throughout the season, Martinelli (when he returned from injury) barely had a sniff.
Arteta's management of certain youth players is quite shocking. He has his favourites and, it appears, he'd rather cut off his nose to spite his face than give certain players a chance.
For the record if we sign Aouar I would consider that as a big upgrade on guendouzi and will be on board with his sale - if however we start the season with 2 from partey, elnenny and xhaka, then obviously I will still see the guendouzi sale as petty
. We have let go of far better players for far less.
Or have Capt Black and cocksucker Edu increased their bid for Ramsdale to £32 million? ???
