William Saliba has been on a stellar run with Arsenal in the Premier League but has struggled to nail down a regular spot in France’s starting eleven.
It is unusual for a footballer to enjoy a sterling club career with a top-rated Premier League outfit as Arsenal but struggle with a bit-part role in the national team.
Saliba has been the backbone of Arsenal’s recent resurgence under Mikel Arteta. He was instrumental to the Gunners’ push for the Premier League title last season and is leading the pack again as the London outfit sneak into the three-horse race for the title this season.
Despite his standout performances for the Gunners, it is still a deadlock for the French center-back in France national team.
In France’s last 18 games, William Saliba has managed only two starts. In their most recent international friendly loss to Germany at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon, he was an unused substitute.
France national team head coach Didier Deschamps is likely to hand the Arsenal defender a starting role in their next friendly against Chile on March 26 but it will be in a heavily-rotated squad.
Squad depth and available options in one’s role do bear on a player’s chances of earning a start, and it is believed Saliba has done enough to earn a regular spot in France national team when juxtaposed with his competitors.
Didier Deschamps maintains a regular defensive rooster for the Les Bleus defense featuring Bayern Munich duo Dayot Upamecano and Benjamin Pavard and Liverpool sensation Ibrahim Konate.
According to him, the trio are far above Saliba in his pecking order when it comes to his defense options, hence his decision to leave the Arsenal man on the bench in most games.
“He is having a good season, but he also does things that I don’t like so much.
For France, he has limited game time, but when he plays, that hasn’t necessarily gone well.
”The hierarchy doesn’t favor him at the moment, but he is here. Dayot Upamecano has had game time and perhaps William has had less.
Didier Deschamps added William Saliba dwells in a characteristically different psychological situation when it comes to the national team.
In his words, Saliba doesn’t have to worry whether he will play at Arsenal because he is always first-choice defender but that is not the case in France squad with multiple better options.
”At international level, he hasn’t always found himself in the best conditions in matches where I’ve rotated a lot,’ Deschamps said. ‘He isn’t in the same psychological situation with his club, where he doesn’t ask himself if he’ll play.
“When he has game time with us, he tells himself he needs to play well because there are others behind him.”
William Saliba made his national team debut for France in 2022 and has managed just 12 appearances for the team. He will be in contention to add to his appearance tally with Les Bleus as Deschamps prepares to rotate his starting IX against Chile in the next friendly.
