William Saliba absence not the source of Arsenal issues, Jamie Carragher says

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By Martin Graham | 16th May 2023

British football pundit Jamie Carragher has stated that the absence due to injury of defender William Saliba is not the cause of Arsenal’s woes at the time.

The Gunners have officially lost their advantage in the 2022/23 Premier League title race. They are now four points behind defending champions Manchester City, who need to win their next game against Chelsea at the weekend to do a Premier League three-peat.

It will be the first time since 2009 that any team has achieved such a feat and Arsenal players will be downcast because they allowed it to happen.

They will be even more downcast with the realisation that they could have won the first Premier League title since the 2003/04 season when the club became the “Invincibles”.

Many have tried to explain the Gunners’ throwing the league title away but the main excuse given is the absence of French defender William Saliba.

The 21-year-old has been one of the best defenders in the Premier League this season. He is expected to make the final team of the season even though he has been injured for two months. The injury will see him miss the rest of the season and Arsenal will have to fight without him.

Many believe that the loss of Saliba to injury changed the fortunes of the club but Carragher, who played in defence for Liverpool during his playing career, has called those opinions a myth. The pundit was speaking on Sky Sports when he explained that the Gunners were conceding even with the Frenchman in defence.

“After the World Cup, still with William Saliba in the team… [they played] 13 games and conceded 14,” Carragher said. “Not the end of the world, but they went from the best in the league [before the World Cup] to 10th. That is a massive drop-off.

“The clean sheets dropped. The amount of times they conceded 2+ goals [after the World Cup with William Saliba in the team], 12th in the league.

“Five times in 13 games, even with William Saliba, they conceded 2+ goals. That tells you what after the World Cup, they were completely different defensively.

“Without William Saliba they drop even further… But this idea that they weren’t conceding goals or looking vulnerable with William Saliba at centre-back is a myth.”

Arsenal’s hope of returning to the top of the table and winning the Premier League is for Chelsea to beat Manchester City at the Etihad while they win their game against Nottingham Forest. It is a tall order but manager Mikel Arteta has stated that he will not lose hope for a Premier League miracle.