William Saliba may be one of the world’s best but he endured a night to forget for France on Monday night.
The Arsenal defender, who has been heavily linked with Real Madrid, was lining up for Les Bleus as they faced Belgium in the UEFA Nations League in a match that they won 2-1.
William Saliba endured a torrid night for France against BelgiumGetty
However for Saliba it was a torrid night and one that AFP journalist Emmanuel Barranguet described as ‘his worst match in Blue’.
Saliba, who started alongside Liverpool‘s Ibrahim Konate, gave away a penalty in the 20th minute when he clattered into Belgium forward Lois Openda.
Thankfully for France, Youri Tielemans stepped up and blazed his effort over the bar.
Nine minutes later, Saliba lost the ball in his own half to see Jeremie Doku flying towards goal – however the Man City star sent his effort wide of the mark to spare his blushes.
France then took the lead, but a third error from Saliba proved costly as Belgium leveled the game before half-time.
This time, the 23-year-old gave the ball away in his own half once again to allow Timothy Castagne to find Openda who made it 1-1.
The second half was more solid as France went on to win the match, for Saliba’s first-half horror show didn’t go down well in the French press.
After calling it ‘Saliba’s worst match in Blue’, AFP’s 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, who are notoriously harsh critics, described Saliba’s performance as ‘particularly awkward’.
Neither Sud Ouest or Le Figaro were particularly impressed with Saliba’s performance either, giving him a 3/10 rating for his performance against Belgium.
Saliba gave away a penalty in an error-strewn first half displayGetty
The French media described it as his worst performance for Les BleusGetty
Meanwhile Eurosport France said it was a ‘painful evening for the Arsenal defender’.
Reflecting on the first half disaster, head coach Didier Deschamps said: “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.
“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 said to Saliba and the rest of his France team, Deschamps added: “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.”
Saliba is next in action when Arsenal face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
