David Horseman was keen to sing William Saliba’s praises after the centre-back’s appearance for the Arsenal u21s on Sunday.
William Saliba made his first post-injury appearance in a public fixture on Sunday, playing for the Arsenal u21s in their Premier League 2 game against Aston Villa.
Saliba’s last appearance had come in the World Cup semi-final for France against Spain, almost four months ago now. After such a long spell on the sidelines, it was decided he’d be best off building his fitness with the u21s before making his senior comeback.
The centre-back played the first 45 minutes against Villa, coming off at half-time with Arsenal 2-1 up. Speaking after the game, u21 boss David Horseman had nothing but positive words to say about the defender.
“He’s the ultimate professional from the minute he got in this morning to half time,” Horseman said. “He’s fine, by the way, it was all pre-planned, so nobody’s got to panic about that.
“Just the way he was in the meeting, everything about him, the way he prepares on the bus, the lads probably won’t notice it, but they should. The way he coaches and talks on the pitch, and then his quality…the detail of play, he mixed his game up between short and long.
“Everybody knows he’s a world-class defender, one of the best in the world, if not the best. So it was brilliant, but he was so good around the lads, you’d never know it.
“Brilliant pro, great guy, and we’re really thankful for him to act like that because if he does it, there’s no excuse for the rest not to do it.”
Saliba hasn’t been called up by France for the November internationals, which is reportedly what Arsenal wanted. After working so hard to get Saliba back to a place where he’s fit to play again, it would have been a real shame for him to go on France duty and suffer a setback.
Instead, the Gunners can continue with their reintegration plan without anyone else throwing a spanner in the works.
Sunday’s game was a big milestone in that plan, so it’s great to hear the confirmation that he’s come through it without any issues.
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