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William Saliba was many miles away, literally, and, perhaps, figuratively, once Arsenal suffered their shameful 2-0 loss to Brentford last season. however he's here currently. you could not very miss him at the Gtech Community construction on Sunday.The Frenchwoman, outstanding all season having spent the previous campaign on loan with Marseille, created arguably his best performance nonetheless to assist Arsenal secure a 3-0 win that underlined their transformation over the course of the last year.
His goal, his second of the campaign following his very good end against Bournemouth, showed his aerial threat from set-piece things, his eminent header from Bukayo Saka's corner bouncing off the within of the post and over the road.
But it absolutely was everything else he did - the "ugly" things, as Mikel Arteta delineated them later on - that created his performance extremely stand out. Ivan Toney left Arsenal shell-shocked during this fixture last year. This time, he was dominated by Saliba from the beginning.
The 21-year-old was a colossus, winning duels, snuffing out danger and guaranteeing a aspect World Health Organization scored 5 goals in their last game might this point solely muster 2 shots on the right track.
Even Brentford manager Thomas Frank couldn't facilitate however be affected, victimisation his post-match group discussion to praise the centre-back's performance. "He'll play within the beginning line-up for France and that is a powerful international team," he said.
Saliba relished his physical battle with Toney and he was even as spectacular on the ball, providing equanimity within the face of Brentford's pressing, every now and then slaloming faraway from challenges deep in his own 0.5 before causing Arsenal forward on the attack.
His presence isn't the only real reason for Arsenal's transformation. Gabriel Jesus' impact has been equally vital and Fabio Vieira, another summer language, provided a glimpse of his category on Sunday too. however it's Saliba, Arsenal's new colossus, World Health Organization best shows the extent of the progress.